HALF    CEJSTTUEY 


WITH 


JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS; 


THE  NEW  YORK  HOUSE   OF  REFUGE 
AND  ITS  TIMES. 


BY 

B.   K.   PEIKCE,   D.  D., 

CHAPLAIN    OF    THE    NEW    YORK    HOTTSE    OF    REFUGK 


NEW  YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    AND     COMPANY, 

90,   92  &  94  GEAND   STEEET. 
1869. 


ENTERED,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 

D.  APPLETON  &  CO., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


TO 
THE      MANAGER  8 

OP  THE 

SOCIETY  FOR  THE  REFORMATION  OF  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS, 

THIS   RECORD    OP  THB 

WISDOM,  BENEVOLENCE,   AND   PIETY   OF  YOUR  PREDECESSORS, 

INTO  WHOSE  LABOBS, 
EMULATING   THEIR   SPIRIT   AND   EARNESTNESS, 

YOU    HAVE    ENTERED, 

18 
GRATEFULLY    AND    RESPECTFULLY    DEDICATED. 


M125882 


TnE  progress  of  juvciule  reform  in  tins 
country  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  a  recent 
v-olume  entitled  A  " Half-Century  with  Jmc- 
>iile  Delinquents,  by  B.  tf .  Pierce,  published 
by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  giving  a  detailed  history 
}f  the  House  of  Refuge  in  this  city,  with  a 
succinct  notice  of  some  of  the  chief  institutions 
for  the  same  object  in  the  Old  World.  The 
moral  of  the  book  is  that  there  is  good  timber 
even  in  naughty  boys,  and  tMt  the  crooked  i 
4icks  can  be  straightened  orn  by  firm  and 
kindly  treatment. 


PKEFACE 


JUST  fifty  years  ago,  in  our  city,  the  "  Society  for 
the  Prevention  of  Pauperism,"  which  finally  was  trans 
formed  into  "  The  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile 
Delinquents,"  made  its  first  report.  Within  this  period 
the  whole  history  of  organized  effort  for  the  reformation 
of  young  criminals,  and  the  rescue  of  young  children  from 
a  life  of  crime,  is  included.  With  nearly  all  the  move 
ments  in  this  direction,  both  in  this  country  and  Europe, 
the  New  York  House  of  Refuge,  in  which  the  investiga 
tions  of  the  Society  have  been  practically  embodied,  has 
been  directly  or  indirectly  connected. 

The  best  known  and  most  honored  names  of  the  city 
have  been  associated  with  its  establishment  and  progress, 
and  it  has  enjoyed  in  their  interest  and  efficient  labors  a 
warm  and  high  place.  But  two  of  its  original  Managers 
are  now  living.  The  opportunity  to  collect  personal  and 
authentic  statements  in  reference  to  its  early  history,  out 
side  of  its  documents,  is  nearly  exhausted. 

It  was  thought  desirable  by  the  present  Managers  of 


6  PREFACE. 

the  Society  that  these  fading  reminiscences  should  be 
revived  as  far  as  practicable,  and  that  the  history  of  the 
origin  and  progress  of  the  institution  should  be  gathered 
from  authentic  sources,  and  be  embodied  in  some  per 
manent  form. 

As  the  story  of  the  Refuge  runs  parallel  with  that  of 
every  other  institution  of  a  similar  character  in  the  civil 
ized  world,  and  its  system  of  discipline  has  been  con 
stantly  examined  by  commissioners  of  other  countries 
before  establishing  their  own  Houses,  it  seemed  a  legiti 
mate  outgrowth  of  its  own  history  to  recount  the  chief 
experiments  in  Europe  and  in  the  United  States  which 
have  been  originated  since  its  own  establishment. 

No  system  for  the  cure  of  vagrancy  and  juvenile  crime 
that  has  enjoyed  an  organized  life  in  the  last  half  century, 
presenting  in  itself  any  novel  feature,  has  been  intention 
ally  omitted  while  recording  the  history  of  the  New  York 
Reformatory. 

Almost  every  question  in  discussion  among  the  friends 
of  exposed  children  is  involved  in  the  sketch  of  the  various 
fortunes  of  the  Refuge ;  and,  although  the  opinions  of  the 
writer,  and  of  the  Managers  of  the  Society,  may  not  be  in 
accordance  always  with  the  judgments  of  others,  still  all 
candid  inquirers  will  be  gratified  to  examine  the  facts 
and  premises  upon  which  the  convictions  uttered  in  this 
volume  rest. 


PREFACE.  Y 

From  the  valuable  files  of  tlie  Institution,  from  tlie 
rare  collections  in  the  rooms  of  the  Historical  Society, 
access  to  which  has  been  generously  proffered,  from  ver 
bal  statements  of  tlie  few  whose  recollections  run  back 
with  much  freshness  to  the  beginning  of  the  century,  from 
published  lives  of  several  of  the  principal  actors,  and  from 
the  quite  extended  literature,  constantly  increasing,  upon 
the  great  questions  of  criminal  and  social  reform,  the 
materials  for  our  volume  have  been  drawn.  The  proper 
acknowledgments  have  been  given  in  the  body  of  the 
book. 

The  instances  exhibiting  the  wholesome  moral  influ 
ence  of  the  Institution,  and  recounting  the  successful  lives 
of  former  inmates,  could  have  been  indefinitely  multiplied, 
but  the  reader  would  have  wearied  under  their  constant 
repetition.  We  have  selected  a  few  average  cases  where 
all  the  circumstances  have  been  well  attested,  as  illustrat 
ing  the  different  eras  in  the  history  of  the  Institution,  and 
the  various  points  discussed  in  the  progress  of  the  narra 
tive.  Many  more  striking  records  are  found  upon  the 
Daily  Journal  and  among  the  letters  received  and  filed, 
but  the  full  history  of  the  cases  has  not  been  perhaps  so 
well  known.  We  have  sought  to  select  the  records  of 
those  who  had,  in  all  human  probability,  passed  through 
the  years  of  peculiar  temptation,  and  become  settled  in 
some  positive  position  in  life. 


8  PREFACE. 

A  more  interesting  or  affecting  series  of  volumes  can 
hardly  be  conceived  of  than,  the  thirty  containing  the  his 
tories,  as  they  have  been  gathered  from  time  to  time,  of 
every  inmate  of  the  House  of  Refuge,  or  the  daily  records 
embodying  the  incidents  of  nearly  half  a  century,  in  so 
large  and  peculiar  an  institution  as  this. 

While  the  volume  has  a  local  interest  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  especially  among  the  friends  of  the  House 
of  Refuge,  we  trust  it  may  also  be  considered  a  contribu 
tion  of  some  value  in  the  discussion  of  that  vital  and 
interesting  question,  in  every  community,  relating  to  the 
prevention  and  the  cure  of  juvenile  crime. 

BIVERSIDE  PAKSOXAGE,  Nov.  13,  1868. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

LIGHT   IN   DAEK    PLACES. 

Death  of  John  Howard ;  Inscription  on  his  statue  in  St.  Paul's ;  Public  attention 
awakened  in  reference  to  crime  and  criminals;  Lord  Brougham;  Interest  of 
Friends  in  prisons  and  prisoners  ;  Elizabeth  Fry  ;  Visits  Norwich  Jail ;  Introduc 
tion  to  Newgate  ;  Condition  of  female  prisoners  ;  Effect  of  the  visit  upon  Mrs. 
Fry  ;  Establishes  a  school ;  John  Randolph's  visit  to  Newgate ;  Mrs.  Fry  invited 
to  visit  the  Glasgow  Bridewell ;  Effect  of  her  words ;  Formation  of  the  London 
Philanthropic  Society ;  Interest  in  vagrant  boys  ;  Boy  in  Newgate  met  by  Sir  T. 
F.  Buxton;  French  prisoners;  Others  cannot  be  neglected  without  personal 
injury ;  Buildings  of  the  Philanthropic  Society  for  boys  and  girls ;  Success  of  this 
institution  ;  Its  removal  to  Red  Hill ;  Visited  by  Prof.  Griscom  ;  Description  of  its 
subjects  and  means  of  reforming  them;  John  Falk;  Requisition  upon  him  of 
Burgomasters  of  Dantzic;  Loss  of  children  ;  Found  again;  "Society  of  Friends  in 
Need;"  Character  of  Subjects;  Happy  effect  of  his  training;  His  high  estimation 
of  work  as  a  reformatory  agent ;  Count  Adalbert  von  der  Reche  ;  Effect  of  wars  of 
Napoleon  upon  the  children ;  Opening  of  his  Redemption  establishment ;  Build 
ings  at  Dusseldorf;  Christian  Frederick  Georgi;  Institution  small  compared 
with  American  Houses  of  Refuge ;  Institutions  in  Berlin,  Prussia ;  These  institu 
tions  all  voluntary ;  Solved  the  problem  of  the  best  way  to  diminish  crime,  17-30 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    PHILANTHBOPIST    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Friends  the  first  movers  in  prison  reform  in  this  country;  The  Pennsylvania  sys 
tem  of  prison  discipline— the  Auburn  system ;  Effect  of  the  war  upon  morals, 
especially  of  the  children ;  Discussions  in  Great  Britain  attracted  attention  here ; 
Prof.  John  Griscom,  LL.  D. ;  Meeting  called  at  his  house ;  Thomas  Eddy  ;  Cadwal- 
lader  D.  Colden's  opinion  of  Mr.  Eddy's  influence  in  establishing  the  House  of 
Refuge  ;  First  suggested  the  anticipation  of  crime  by  a  preventive  discipline,  and 
the  need  of  an  asylum  for  discharged  convicts ;  Views  of  Edward  Livingston ; 
Mr.  Eddy's  extensive  correspondence  with  European  reformers ;  John  Pintard ; 
His  last  .letter  in  reference  to  the  House  of  Refuge ;  Meeting  at  the  New  York 
Hospital;  Gen.  Mathew  Clarkson  ;  Committee  to  consider  the  question  of  pauper 
ism  ;  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Pauperism ;  Extended  interest  in  the  first 
report;  Attention  of  the  Society  early  turned  to  criminal  institutions  of  the  city; 
Report  in  reference  to  children  in  the  prison ;  Cadwallader  D.  Colden.  Mayor  of 


10  CONTENTS. 

the  city;  His  important  sen-ices  in  behalf  of  the  House  of  Refuge;  His  own  feel 
ings  in  reference  to  the  institution ;  His  experience  as  the  judge  of  the  city 
courts;  Letter  of  the  Mayor;  Mayor  Coldeu's  report  in  1821 ;  The  period  favor 
able  for  a  reform  movement;  report  on  the  penitentiary  system  in  the  United 
States ;  Gen.  Charles  G.  Haines  ;  Character  of  his  report ;  James  W.  Gerard,  Esq. ; 
His  report  on  juvenile  delinquency ;  Every  one  connected  with  the  courts  had 
felt  the  want  of  some  institution  for  criminal  children ;  Hugh  Maxwell,  Esq. ;  His 
experience  in  the  courts ;  The  original  report  of  Mr.  Gerard,  .  .  .  31-44 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   SOCIETY    FOB   THE    REFORMATION   OP    JUVENILE    DELINQUENTS. 

.-James  W.  Gerard,  Esq. ;  His  first  criminal  case  ;  incident  of  the  youth  saved  by  the 
Refuge ;  Preparation  of  his  report ;  Isaac  Collins ;  Publisher  of  famous  octavo 
edition  of  Bible ;  large  European  correspondence ;  Interest  in  House  of  Refuge ; 
Reference  to  Mr.  Collins  at  the  Convention  in  1857;  His  own  recollections  of  the 
origin  of  the  institution ;  Annual  meeting  of  Society  for  Prevention  of  Pauperism, 
February  7, 1823 ;  Interest  of  the  community  in  the  subject;  Extracts  from  the 
report ;  Well  received,  and  followed  by  eloquent  speeches ;  Articles  in  the  Com 
mercial  Advertiser;  Thus  far  only  a  change  of  name  from  a  Prison  to  a  House  of 
Refuge  ;  The  Society  appoint  a  committee  to  form  a  plan  for  a  House  of  Refuge  ; 
Dr.  Griscom,  the  chairman,  prepares  the  report ;  What  the  Managers  of  the  House 
of  Refuge  thought  of  this  report ;  Brings  out  distinctly  the  preventive  work  of  the 
Refuge ;  Extracts  from  the  report  first  read  at  New  York  Hospital ;  Public  meet 
ing  December  19, 1823,  at  Assembly  Rooms ;  The  report  was  followed  by  several 
addresses;  Mr.  Maxwell's  estimate  of  number  that  might  be  annually  saved; 
Report  in  Commercial  Advertiser  •  The  meeting  resolved  to  establish  a  House  of 
Refuge ;  Appointed  Managers ;  Subscriptions  taken  up  ;  Society  for  the  Preven 
tion  of  Pauperism  translated;  Judge  Duer;  Cornelius  Dubois;  Dr.  Waiuwright ; 
Robert  F.  Mott ;  Appeal  of  Managers  to  the  public ;  Act  of  incorporation  from  the 
State;  Services  of  Managers  gratuitously  rendered  ;  Powers  of  Managers ;  Tested 
before  the  Courts ;  Decision  of  Recorder, 45-69 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    FIRST    HOUSE    OF    REFUGE. 

Rev.  John  Stanford,  D.  D. ;  Recommended  a  juvenile  asylum  to  city  authorities  in 
1812 ;  Presents  a  plan  for  the  naval  training  of  boys ;  Proposes  the  United  States 
Arsenal  as  an  asylum  for  neglected  children ;  Had  his  hopes  unexpectedly  real 
ized  ;  Managers  apply  to  city  for  a  site ;  Arsenal  granted  ;  Sentiments  of  the  Com 
mittee  of  the  Council;  The  Government  about  to  change  its  arsenal ;  Application 
for  ground  and  buildings  favorably  received  at  Washington  ;  Letter  of  Col.  Bom- 
ford  ;  Buildings  surrendered  for  six  thousand  dollars,  four  thousand  of  which  were 
afterward  released;  Description  of  site;  Present  condition;  House  opened  Jan. 
1,  1825;  Importance  of  the  office  of  Superintendent;  Joseph  Curtis;  Superin 
tendent  of  James  P.  Allaire's  business;  Active  ia  securing  State  Act  ot'^Ianinni- 

^^.  sion ;  Received  a  handsome  testimonial  for  this  ;  Dr.  Bellows  upon  ?Ir.  Curtis; 
Care~of  idiotic  brother ;  Retained  office  of  Superintendent  but  a  year ;  Opened  the 
way  for  others ;  Not  the  most  successful  disciplinarian ;  Interest  continued  after 
his  resignation;  His  dying  gift  to  the  Refuge;  Opening  of  the  institution; 


CONTENTS.  11 


Address  by  Hugh  Maxwell,  Esq. ;  Contrast  between  then  and  now  ;  Effect  of  the 
first  year's  experiment  upon  juvenile  crime ;  Mr.  Maxwell's  interview  with  an 
old  inmate  on  the  ferry-boat ;  Benefit  of  constant  employment ;  something  besides 
affection  necessary  in  the  discipline  of  these  boys ;  Failure  of  the  popular  Chicago 
Superintendent ;  Many  of  these  children  have  had  decent  and  even  indulgent 
homes  ;  The  son  of  a  donor  sent  early  to  the  House  of  Refuge  ;  The  case  of  C.  W. 
P. ;  Present  arrangement  of  labor  and  its  effect ;  Opinion  of  a  friend  of  public 
schools  in  Massachusetts  in  reference  to  our  system  of  labor;  Hofwyl  School, 
Switzerland ;  Shop  in  some  respects  better  than  the  farm ;  Views  of  labor 
expressed  in  the  second  report ;  the  moral  benefits  of  labor  chiefly  regarded  ;  No 
inmate  retained  a  day  on  account  of  the  value  of  his  services ;  Hours  of  labor  ; 
Letter  to  the  author  from  an  inmate  in  reference  to  work  in  the  institution ; 
Early  fruit ;  Mr.  Curtis'?  evening  interviews  ;  Affectionate  remembrance  of  him 
by  former  inmates;  Hard  cases  disciplined;  The  auxiliary  board  of  ladies  ;  Mrs. 
Sophia  Wyckoff;  Mrs.  Sarah  C.  Hawxhurst;  Tribute  to  the  Ladies'  Committee  in 
the  Sixth  Report ;  Proportion  of  criminal  girls  saved  not  so  large  as  that  of  the 
boys ;  The  case  of  D.  W. ;  Of  J.  S.  ;  What  the  after-records  say  of  these  girls  : 
Robert  Kelly  upon  the  reformation  of  females ;  Separate  building  prepared  for 
girls  ;  Opened  on  Christmas  day,  1825 ;  sermon  by  Rev.  John  Stanford  ;  Effect  of 
the  singing  of  the  children ;  Appeal  to  the  Legislature  for  aid ;  De  Witt  Clinton : 
Refers  to  Refuge  in  his  Message ;  Mr.  Maxwell's  allusion  to  the  Governor ;  An 
additional  act  of  the  Legislature  opening  the  whole  State  to  the  privileges  of  the 
House ;  Commissioners  of  Health  to  pay  over  their  surplus  receipts  to  the  House  ; 
Final  arrangement  for  meeting  the  current  expenses  of  the  Refuge ;  Institution 
saved  from  the  baneful  influence  of  party  politics  ;  The  Managers  have  personally 
governed  the  institution ;  The  various  committees  of  the  Board ;  Herman  Averill. 
Esq. ;  Result  of  this  personal  supervision ;  Fulness  of  records  ;  Disposition  of  the 
children  when  discharged;  Anticipated  the  work  of  Children's  Aid  Society;  F. 
C.  from  Brooklyn  sent  to  the  West ;  Two  brothers  and  sister ;  leaving  their  places 
of  indenture  not  an  evidence  of  ruin;  The  gentleman  in  the  cars;  Religious  cul 
ture  of  the  children ;  The  Chaplaincy ;  The  Sabbath  in  the  Refuge ;  Effect  of  these 
religious  instructions;  The  Irish  orphan-girl;  Testimony  as  to  the  moral  influ 
ence  of  the  Refuge ;  Religious  services  among  the  officers  ;  Library ;  The  Schools ; 
Lectures  of  Dr.  Griscom ;  Female  teachers ;  Effect  of  their  presence  upon  the 
boys;  David  Brown;  O.  F,  3.:  M.  P.;  The  pitiable  girl  now  a  superior 
teacher, 70-110 

CHAPTEE  V. 

MB.  HAKT'S  ADMINISTKATIOK". 

Mr.  N.  C.  Hart ;  His  success  in  the  city  High  School ;  Beaumont  and  De  Tocqueville's 
opinion  of  him ;  His  inauguration ;  Address  of  Hon.  C.  D.  Golden  ;  Mr.  Hart's 
response;  Love  of  the  children  for  their  old  Superintendent;  Code  of  by-laws; 
Two  well-defined  laws;  Allusion  to  them  by  the  French  visitors  ;  An  old  inmate 
refers  to  them ;  The  little  English  girl ;  But  few  changes  in  by-laws ;  The  second 
anniversary ;  Numbers  in  House ;  Announcement  in  Evening  Post ;  Judge  Irving'? 
report ;  Boys  apprenticed  for  whaling  voyages ;  The  young  friend  of  Mr,  Seaton ; 
Beaumont  and  De  Tocqueville's  opinion  of  the  efficiency  of  the  discipline  of  the 
Refuge ;  Analysis  of  the  register  showing  results ;  Dr.  Leiber's  note ;  Statis 
tics  of  reform  ;  Reasons  why  this  result  is  not  a  fair  exponent  of  the  moral  power 
of  the  Refuge ;  Charles  Peterson  ;  The  record  between  1841  and  1851 ;  House  of 
Reformation  in  Boston ;  Rev.  Mr.  Wells  ;  Peculiar  and  complicated  character  of 


12  CONTENTS. 

its  discipline ;  Difficulty  attending  these  peculiar  systems  ;  Boston  and  New  York 
system  compared  by  De  Tocqueville ;  This  opinion  confirmed  by  the  after-history 
of  the  institutions  ;  The  Philadelphia  House ;  J.  H.  Wichern,  D.  D. ;  The  Kauhe 
Haus  at  Hamburg ;  Its  origin  and  gro  wth  ;  Inner  Mission  ;  The  elder  brothers  ;  The 
nature  of  their  work;  A  Protestant  Brotherhood  ;  Children  retained  many  years  ; 
But  a  limited  number  therefore  saved  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  House  ;  Visits 
indentured  children  every  fortnight ;  His  success;  Owed  much  to  the  character  of 
his  assistants ;  Effect  of  a  change  in  the  girls'  house ;  Effect  upon  boys'  house  ; 
Only  Wichern  can  manage  so  complicated  a  scheme  ;  111  adapted  to  our  wants ; 
The  true  family  reform  school  with  us  must  be  the  voluntary  movement  of  one 
man ;  Miss  Carpenter's  view ;  Breaking  up  a  large  institution  into  small  houses 
does  not  make  a  family  school ;  The  whole  discipline  of  Refuge  temporary  and 
exceptional ;  Classification  important  and  easily  secured  in  a  large  institution ; 
Edward  Livingston's  opinion  of  the  New  York  Refuge ;  Feeling  of  the  Managers 
after  six  years'  trial  of  their  system ;  Letter  of  Rev.  David  Terry  in  reference  to 
two  indentured  boys  ;  Opinion  of  Sir  H.  L.  Bulwer;  No  stain  left  by  the  Refuge 
upon  the  character ;  Young  couple  from  Canada  ;  Lady  and  gentleman  from  the 
same  church ;  House  tradition  of  a  gentleman  and  his  wife ;  the  case  of  H.  C.  R. ; 
The  young  coal-merchant ;  Mr.  Maxwell's  testimony  in  reference  to  the  discharged 
inmates ;  The  story  of  K.  L. ;  His  fortunes  in  Nantucket;  Remark  of  Managers  in 
the  Thirteenth  Report  as  to  appearance  of  inmates ;  "  Boarding-school  for  poor 
children ;"  Remarkable  health  of  institution ;  First  death  ;  Eminent  physicians  in 
charge;  Wonderful  preservation  from  cholera;  Dying  children;  Hon.  Stephen 
Allen;  His  peculiarities ;  Drowned  at  the  burning  of  the  Henry  Clay;  His  maxims 
of  conduct  found  in  his  pocket ;  Amos  Lawrence ;  The  Manager's  opinion  of  Mr. 
Allen  ;  Resignation  of  Mr.  Hart ;  Testimony  of  the  Managers  to  his  character  and 
ability, 117-153 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BELLEVUE. 

Rev.  David  Terry,  Jun. ;  His  experience  at  the  House  ;  Record  of  confirmed  reforma 
tions  among  former  inmates ;  Two  studying  for  the  ministry ;  Favorable  accounts 
of  seven  young  women  and  six  young  men ;  An  era  in  the  history  of  the  Refuge  ; 
Extension  of  the  city ;  Council  offer  to  exchange  sites ;  Places  specified ;  Belle- 
vne  Fever  Hospital  accepted  ;  Removal ;  Statistics  of  the  previous  fifteen  years  ; 
Report  of  Managers  in  reference  to  them;  Visit  to  this  country  of  M.  de  Metz; 
Impression  made  on  his  mind  by  House  of  Refuge ;  His  experience  in  court; 
Determined  to  devote  himself  to  the  work  of  saving  the  children ;  Visited  Bel 
gium  and  Germany ;  Devised  a  system  of  his  own  ;  The  Paternal  Society ;  Object 
of  Society ;  Similarity  in  the  reformatory  movements  in  England,  America,  Ger 
many,  and  France ;  M.  le  Vicomte  de  Conrteilles ;  Gave  an  estate  at  Mettray  for 
the  institution ;  Remarkable  death  of  the  Vicomte ;  His  will ;  De  Metz  first 
secured  twenty  young  men  for  teachers;  Six  months'  training;  Construction  of 
buildings;  Officers;  "Agricultural  colony  ;"  Effect  of  a  name;  Average  number 
of  inmates ;  De  Metz's  view  of  Mettray  ;  Great  use  made  of  a  spirit  of  emulation  ; 

•  London  Quarterly  ;  The  list  of  honor;  Mr.  Hall's  notice  of  this  list;  Effect  upon 
the  boys  and  families ;  Effect  of  this  appeal  to  sense  of  honor ;  Miss  Dix's  visit  to 
Mettray;  Impression  upon  an  American  observer ;  American  institutions  modelled 
upon  this  plan ;  Not  the  system  but  the  men  that  gave  success ;  the  plan  no 
special  advantage  over  the  New  York  system  as  to  results  ;  Captain  Basil  Hall's 


CONTENTS. 


notice  of  New  York  House;  No  change  in  daily  routine  made  for  benefit  of 
visitors ;  Mature  youths  sent  to  House  ;  Opinion  of  Philadelphia  Managers  ;  Com 
ment  of  New  York  Managers ;  Breach  of  the  law  limiting  age ;  the  institution  has 
shown  the  need  of  another  asylum  for  young  people  older  than  its  own,  hut  under 
twenty-five;  Better  arranged  now  to  receive  older  subjects;  Second  division  in 
Eefuge  ;  Result  of  their  training ;  Records  of  Daily  Journal ;  encouraging  in 
stances  of  reform  ;  Failure  of  a  child  in  a  family  no  fair  measure  of  the  influence 
of  the  Refuge;  Experience  of  the  House  in  this  matter;  Capital  letter  from  a 
Master;  Resignation  of  Mr.  Terry  ;  Samuel  S.  Wood;  Qualifications  for  the  posi 
tion  ;  Col.  Wm.  L.  Stone  ;  Samuel  Stevens ;  John  R.  Willis ;  Tribute  of  the  Man 
agers  to  him;  Robert  C.  Cornell ;  Estimation  in  which  he  was  held;  Interest  of 
the  old  Managers ;  Cornelius  Dubois ;  John  R.  Townsencl ;  Samuel  Downer ; 
Mrs.  Sarah  Hall ;  State  Reform  School  at  Westborough  ;  First  State  institution  ; 
Change  in  plan  made  by  a  fire ;  Effect  of  the  system  upon  the  unity  of  the  institu 
tion  ;  Influence  of  State  patronage  over  such  institutions  ;  House  in  New  Orleans ; 
Western  House  of  Refuge  at  Rochester;  Both  institutions  filled;  The  separation, 
of  the  sexes ;  Experience  of  New  York  House ;  Of  the  author  in  both  kinds  of 
institutions ;  Effect  of  their  worshipping  together ;  Mr.  Wood  goes  to  Rochester ; 
His  success  there ;  Statistics  at  this  time ;  Testimony  of  Mayor  Harper  and 
Grand  Jury;  John  W.  Ketchum,  Esq.;  His  characteristics;  Captain  James 
Lovett ;  The  testimony  of  the  Managers  to  his  worth ;  Daniel  Seymour,  Esq., 
Value  of  his  services  to  the  Society ;  David  C.  Golden,  Esq. ;  Selections  from  the 
Daily  Journal, 154-183 


CHAPTEE  VII. 
RANDALL'S  ISLAND. 

Crowded  State  of  the  house ;  Petition  city  for  power  to  sell  and  to  buy  again ;  Pur 
chase  on  Ward's  Island ;  Change  of  location  granted  by  Legislature,  with  appro 
priation  ;  Exchange  for  land  upon  Randall's  Island ;  Rough  state  of  the  land ; 
Cost  of  grading;  The  plans  of  the  buildings;  Sanction  of  Governor  and  Comp 
troller;  Robert  Kelly,  Esq. ;  Education ;  Business ;  Character  and  reputation  of  the 
man ;  Positions  which  he  held ;  Presides  over  the  Institution  from  the  laying  of 
the  corner-stone  to  the  dedication  of  its  buildings  ;  Death ;  Tribute  of  Managers  ; 
Laying  the  corner-stone ;  Address  of  Mayor  Kingsland ;  Mr.  Kelly's  address ; 
Dr.  Chalmers's  experiments  in  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh  ;  Moral  sinks  ;  The  Five 
Points  Mission  ;  Original  character  of  its  site  ;  Description  by  Dickens  ;  Rev. 
Lewis  M.  Pease  ;  Old  Brewery;  The  good  work  that  has  been  done  ;  Mr.  Pease's 
difference  of  opinion  about  the  work;  Formed  a  new  Mission ;  House  of  Indus 
try  ;  Act  of  incorporation  ;  Mr.  Pease  removes  to  farm ;  Mr.  Talcott  succeeds ; 
Benjamin  R.  Barlow  ;  Working  Women's  Home ;  Rev.  W.  C.  Van  Meter ;  Howard 
Mission  for  Little  Wanderers  ;  Success  of  the  Mission ;  The  Catholic  Mission  ; 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  Societies ;  Midnight  Mission ;  Effect  of  too  numerous 
alms-giving  societies ;  Association  for  the  Improvement  of  the  Condition  of  the 
Poor ;  Robert  M.  Hartley ;  Effect  of  this  Society ;  Juvenile  vagrancy  and  truancy ; 
Number  of  vagrant  children ;  Public  attention  drawn  in  this  direction ;  The  New 
York  Juvenile  Asylum;  Means  of  its  establishment;  Amount  raised  since  by 
private  subscriptions  ;  Plan  of  operations  ;  Efficient  Western  agency;  Statistics; 
Present  condition ;  Dr.  Brooks ;  Ragged  Schools  ;  John  Pounds  ;  Remarkable 
experiment  in  Aberdeen ;  C.  L.  Brace ;  His  experience  among  the  charities  of  the 
city  ;  European  travels  ;  Studied  the  vagrant  and  criminal  reforms  of  that  con- 


14  CONTENTS. 


tinent;  Visits  the  most  neglected  parts  of  the  city;  Availed  himself  of  the  city 
press  ;  The  result  of  his  investigation  upon  his  own  mind  ;  The  Children's  Aid 
society;  Its  peculiar  work;  Newsboys'  Lodgings;  Deporting  children  to  the 
West;  Statistics;  These  various  charities  were  originated  as  the  new  buildings 
of  the  Refuge  were  being  constructed  ;  Death  of  Dr.  Barrett ;  Testimony  of  the 
Managers  to  his  worth ;  Mahlon  Day ;  Mary  Day  ;  Their  affecting  death  on  the 
wreck  of  the  steamer  Arctic ;  The  record  of  the  House  to  their  memory ;  Probabili 
ties  in  reference  to  the  children  that  had  been  inmates  of  the  House ;  Amount 
realized  from  sale  of  property ;  Total  cost  of  new  buildings ;  A  ten  years'  work  ; 
What  the  Managers  say  of  their  removal  from  Bellevue ;  Change  in  the  govern 
ment  of  the  Board ;  The  removal ;  Opening  services  ;  Speech  of  President  Kelly  ; 
Address  by  Governor  Seymour;  Whole  work  announced  to  be  completed  in  1800; 
Classification  happily  secured;  Death  of  Mr.  Kelly  ;  Of  Mr.  Charles  W.  Leupp  ; 
His  memorial ;  State  Industrial  School  at  Lancaster,  Mass. ;  Rev.  Mr.  Ames  ;  Plan 
of  its  establishments  ;  Its  success ;  Farm  School  for  boys,  Lancaster,  Ohio ;  Mr. 
Howe  ;  Its  plan  and  efficiency  ;  Effect  upon  the  community  of  these  experiments  ; 
Remarks  upon  them, 184-247 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    CONGREGATE    SYSTEM    IN    REFORMATORIES. 

Convention  of  friends  of  juvenile  reform  in  1857  and  1859 ;  Attendance  and  correspond 
ence  ;  Various  experiments  in  reform  considered  ;  Massachusetts  Board  of  State 
Charities ;  All  our  institutions  still  leave  multitudes  in  the  street ;  Occasion  of  this  ; 
A  class  that  cannot  be  safely  sent  into  the  country,  and  are  not  the  subjects  of  a 
family  school ;  Vicious  children  of  respectable  parentage  ;  Parental  relation  not  to 
be  sundered  unless  indispensable  for  child's  salvation ;  Young  foreign  street  crimi 
nals;  The  trial  of  years  shows  that  large  institutions  may  exercise  an  entirely 
wholesome  influence  ;  A  long  period  at  an  institution  not  desirable ;  Evil  effects 
of  long  detentions ;  Our  large  common  schools  indispensable  in  a  city ;  Congregate 
institutions  make  a  positive  impression  upon  the  juvenile  crime  of  a  city;  few 
persons  have  the  magnetic,  reformatory  power;  They  should  have  as  wide  a  field 
as  possible  for  its  development ;  Secure  systematic  labor ;  Its  disciplinary  power ; 
Effect  of  paying  a  boy's  board  with  a  farmer;  These  discussions  turned  attention 
to  European  institutions  ;  They  have  no  material  advantages  over  ours ;  No  one 
system  found  to  be  superior  to  another  ;  It  is  the  man  and  not  the  institution  that 
saves ;  Mtiller  in  Bristol ;  Wichern  ;  Christian  Frederick  Georgi ;  Pastor  O.  G. 
Heldring ;  Mr.  Martin;  Pillsbury  at  Albany;  Trained  men  the  demand  of  the 
hour ;  The  fact  of  there  being  farm  schools  not  decisive  as  to  the  advantage  of 
this  form  of  labor ;  We  notice  the  prominence  given  to  religion ;  The  interest 
taken  in  the  question  of  reform  by  the  most  elevated  classes  socially ;  multiplica 
tion  of  voluntary  institutions ;  Our  streets  should  be  cleaned  of  vagrants ;  A 
reform  institution  for  criminal  young  men ;  Managers'  remarks  in  reference  to 
their  own  system;  The  case  of  James  C., 248-283 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    HALF    CENTURY. 

Increase  of  inmates  ;  Effect  of  war  upon  numbers;  Singular  misapprehension  of  its 
true  character,  not  penal  but  reformatory ;  Occasion  of  it ;  Not  adapted  to  be  a 
place  of  punishment ;  Why,  then,  are  children  drawn  away  from  the  care  ol  parents ; 


,/MV 


CONTENTS. 


15 


Mistake  as  to  reformatory  power  ;  The  weight  of  moral  influence  exerted  by  the 
institution;  Death  of  Mr.  Ketchum;  Mr.  I.  C.  Jones;  Death  of  Col.  Stevens; 
Edmund  M.  Young ;  Thomas  B.  Stillman,  Walter  Underbill ;  James  W.  Under 
bill  ;  A  permanent  Chaplaincy ;  The  duties  of  the  office ;  Effect  of  liturgical  ser 
vice  upon  the  inmates ;  Visits  to  indentured  children ;  Visits  to  families  in  the 
city ;  Illustrations  of  their  character  and  results ;  The  civil  war ;  Number  of 
enlisted  boys ;  Moral  effect  of  army  discipline  favorable  on  the  whole  ;  the  case  of 
the  dying  soldier  of  Chickamauga  ;  Incidents  from  the  Daily  Journal ;  The  Society 
for  the  Protection  of  Destitute  Roman  Catholic  Children:  Managers  have  same 
powers  as  those  of  Juvenile  Asylum,  only  limited  to  Catholic  children ;  Estab 
lished  by  donations  and  appropriations  from  the  City  Treasury;  Boys  and  girls  in 
separate  institutions;  Now  established  in  West  Farms;  Description  of  edifice 
and  system  Of  discipline;  The  Christian  Brothers;  Brother  Telliow ;  Boys 
younger  than  ours ;  Plans  for  the  future ;  Present  system  of  grades  in  the 
Refuge ;  Effect  of  it ;  How  it  opens  before  the  new  inmate  and  inspires  him ;  The 
change  of  badge ;  Overseers  of  labor  may  not  meddle  with  discipline ;  Illustra 
tions  of  this  ;  How  all  this  affects  the  subjects  of  the  House  ;  Statistics  to  present 
time  ;  Current  expenses;  Earnings  of  inmates  ;  Effect  of  training  on  the  whole  ; 
Call  for  a  training-ship ;  Plan  for  rendering  it  economical  and  efficient ;  Advan 
tages  over  the  Massachusetts  plan;  Provision  for  mature  young  criminals  ;  The 
direction  of  future  reform ;  Charge  of  Recorder  Hill ;  English  press  ;  The  economy 
of  all  wise  outlays  in  this  direction, 284-317 

APPENDIX  I.   Description  of  the  buildings, 319 

II.  Act  of  incorporation,  and  important  amendments  and  additions    .    320 

HI.  Judicial  opinions, 335 

Opinion  of  Governors  of  the  State  upon  their  right  to  pardon 

inmates  of  the  House  of  Refuge. 
Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania.     December 

Term,  1838. 

Decision  of  Supreme  Bench  of  Baltimore  City,  Feb.  5,  1868. 
IV.  Rules  for  the  enforcement  of  discipline  in  the  New  York  House  of 

Refuge 365 

V.  Sermon  of  Rev.  John  Stanford,  D.D., 367 

VI.  List  of  Managers  of  the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile 

Delinquents  in  the  City  of  New  York,  from  182-1  to  1868,      .       .    379 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


1.  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE, Frontispiece. 

2.  STEEL  ENGRAVING,  PROF.  JOHN  GRISCOM, to  face  p.  32 

3.  WOODCUT,  HON.  CADWALLADER  D,  COLDEN, 39 

4.  ENGRAVING,  J.  W.  GERARD,  ESQ.,  45 

5.  WOODCUT,   FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE, 78 

6.  "        "     RAUHE  HAUS, 131 


7.      "         "     HON.  STEPHEN  ALLEN, 


AGRICULTURAL  COLONY,  METTRAT, 


151 

160 


187 


9.      "         "     ROBERT  KELLY,  ESQ., 

10.  "         "     THE  OLD  BREWERY, 208 

11.  "         "     THE  FIVE  POINTS  MISSION, 21° 

12.  "        "     FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY, 212 

13.  ENGRAVING,  JUVENILE  ASYLUM, 221 

14.  WOODCUT,  OLIVER  STRONG,  ESQ., ^ 

15.  STATE  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL,  LANCASTER,  MASS.,       .... 

9Q1 

16.  RIVERSIDE  PARSONAGE 

17.  GROUND  PLAN  OF  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE 318 


A  HALF  CENTURY 


WITH 


JUVENILE     DELINQUENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

LIGHT     IN     DARK     PLACES. 

JOHN  HOWARD  died  at  Cherson,  on  the  Dnieper,  while 
examining  the  Russian  military  hospitals  to  ascertain  the  cause 
and  find  a  remedy  for  the  plague  which  was  sweeping  away  the 
soldiers  by  thousands — a  willing  martyr  to  his  desire  to  relieve 
the  sufferings  of  others — on  the  20th  of  January,  1790.  The 
inscription  upon  his  statue  in  St.  Paul's,  London,  among  other 
impressive  records,  says,  "  He  trod  an  open  but  unfrequented 
path  to  immortality,  in  the  ardent  but  unintermitted  exercise  of 
Christian  charity  ;  "  and  it  closes  with  the  devout  hope,  which 
has  been  abundantly  realized,  that  this  tribute  to  his  fame,  so 
richly  deserved,  "  may  excite  an  emulation  of  his  truly  glorious 
achievements." 

He  rested  from  his  labors,  but  his  works  followed  him.  He 
had  no  lineal  successors  in  the  great  mission  of  prison  and  hos 
pital  inspection,  but  his  mantle  fell  upon  many  devout  men  and 
women  upon  both  shores  of  the  Atlantic. 


18         A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Friends.— Elizabeth  Gurney. 

Public  attention  had  been  thoroughly  aroused  to  the  physical 
and  moral  wants  of  imprisoned  criminals,  to  the  appalling  in 
crease  of  crime,  and  the  importance  of  inquiring  into  its  causes 
and  of  devising  measures  for  its  prevention.  With  the  com 
mencement  of  the  next  century  Lord  Brougham  entered  upon 
his  brilliant  public  career,  just  terminated  as  this  page  is  writ 
ten,*  and  with  his  compeers  wrought  out  the  marvellous  changes 
in  the  administration  of  criminal  law.  and  instituted  the  numerous 
educational  and  social  reforms  which  have  given  character  and 
honor  to  the  civilization  of  the  nineteenth  century  in  the  British 
empire. 

The  denomination  of  Friends  in  England,  embracing  many 
persons  of  wealth  and  intelligence,  seemed  in  a  particular  man 
ner  to  charge  itself  with  the  duty  of  attending  to  the  religious 
instruction  of  prisoners,  and  of  continuing  the  work  so  worthily 
commenced  by  Howard. 

When  but  fifteen  years  of  age,  Elizabeth  Gurney,  afterward 
well  known  as  the  devoted  and  saintly  Elizabeth  Fry,  by  re 
peated  and  earnest  persuasion,  induced  her  father  to  permit  her 
to  visit  the  House  of  Correction  at  Norwich.  She  was  attracted 
by  a  "  painful  sympathy  toward  those  who,  by  yielding  them 
selves  to  the  bondage  of  sin,  had  become  the  victims  of  human 
justice;"f  a  sympathy  which  had  undoubtedly  been  awakened 
by  the  recitals  to  which  she  had  listened  at  the  "monthly  meet 
ings  "  of  the  Society. 

In  the  commencement  of  the  'year  1813,  four  members  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  (one  of  them  being  William  Forster), 
with  whom  she  was  intimate,  mentioned  to  her  the  cases  of 

*  May  10,  1868. 

f  "Life  of  Elizabeth  Fry,"  by  Susanna  Corder,p.  198. 


LIGHT  IN  DARK  PLACES.  19 

Newgate.— Mrs.  Fry. 

several  persons  in  Newgate  prison,  who  were  about  to  be  exe 
cuted.  This  occasioned  her  introduction  to  this  noted  prison 
— at  this  time  a  shocking  scene  of  brutality  and  crime — and  the 
commencement  of  a  life-long  interest  in  the  moral  improvement 
of  prisoners,  especially  those  of  her  own  sex. 

The  quadrangle  in  which  the  female  prisoners  were  confined 
was  overlooked  by  the  windows  of  the  male  prison.  In  four 
rooms,  covering  about  one  hundred  and  ninety  superficial  yards, 
three  hundred  women,  with  their  numerous  children,  were 
crowded — "  tried  and  untried,  misdemeanants  and  felons,  with 
out  classification,  without  employment,  and  with  no  other  super 
intendence  than  that  given  by  a  man  and  his  son  by  night  and 
by  day.  In  the  same  rooms,  in  rags  and  dirt,  destitute  of 
sufficient  clothing  (for  which  there  was  no  provision),  sleeping 
without  bedding  on  the  floor,  the  boards  of  which  were  in  part 
raised  to  supply  a  sort  of  pillow,  they  lived,  cooked,  and  washed."* 
With  the  proceeds  of  their  begging  from  all  visitors  (for  no  re 
straint  beyond  what  was  required  for  their  custody  was  placed 
upon  their  communication  with  their  friends  outside),  they  pur 
chased  liquors  from  a  regular  bar  in  the  prison.  Although 
military  sentinels  were  posted  along  the  leads  of  the  prison, 
even  the  governor  of  it  entered  this  portion  with  reluctance. 
He  advised  Mrs.  Fry  and  her  companion,  when  they  sought 
admission,  to  leave  their  watches  in  his  house  lest  they  should 
be  snatched  from  their  sides.  *This  they  declined  to  do*  With 
no  attendant,  Mrs.  Fry  and  Anna  Buxton  (sister  of  Sir  T.  F. 
Buxton,  her  brother-in-law)  stood  before  this  strange  company. 
"  The  sorrowful  and  neglected  condition  of  these  depraved 
women  and  their  miserable  children,  dwelling  in  such  a  vortex 

*  "  Life  of  Elizabeth  Fry,"  p.  199. 


20         A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Gospel  in  Prison.— John  Randolph. 

of  corruption,  deeply  sank  into  her  heart,  although  at  this  time 
nothing  more  was  done  than  to  supply  the  most  destitute  with 
clothes.  She  carried  back  to  her  home,  and  into  the  midst  of 
other  interests  and  avocations,  a  lively  remembrance  of  all  that 
she  had  witnessed  in  Newgate ;  which,  within  four  years,  in 
duced  that  systematic  effort  for  ameliorating  the  condition  of 
these  poor  outcasts,  so  signally  blessed  of  Him  who  said  that 
'joy  shall  be  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth,  more 
than  over  ninety-and-nine  just  persons  who  need  no  repentance.'" 
She  soon  arranged  a  school  in  the  prison,  with  one  of  the 
convicts  for  a  teacher,  and  commenced  a  series  of  religious  ser 
vices,  winch  not  only  produced  remarkable  results  upon  the  im 
mediate  subjects  of  her  labors,  but  greatly  excited  the  public 
interest,  and  awakened  faith  in  the  possibility  of  redeeming,  by 
the  power  of  the  Gospel,  the  most  abandoned  criminals  from  a 
life  of  sin.  How  characteristically  John  Randolph  describes  a 
scene  which  he  witnessed  in  Newgate,  while  envoy  plenipoten 
tiary  from  this  country  to  the  court  of  St.  James  !  "  Two  days 
ago,"  he  says,  "I  saw  the  greatest  curiosity  ill  London — ay, 
and  in  England,  too,  sir — compared  to  which,  Westminster  Ab 
bey,  the  Tower,  Somerset  House,  the  British  Museum,  nay, 
Parliament  itself,  sink  into  utter  insignificance  !  I  have  seen, 
sir,  Elizabeth  Fry,  in  Newgate,  and  I  have  witnessed  there 
miraculous  effects  of  true  Christianity  upon  the  most  depraved 
of  human  beings  !  And  yet  the  wretched  outcasts  have  been 
tamed  and  subdued  by  the  Christian  eloquence  of  Mrs.  Fry  !  I 
have  seen  them  weep  repentant  tears  while  she  addressed  them. 
I  have  heard  their  groans  of  despair,  sir  !  Nothing  but  religion 
can  effect  this  miracle  ;  for  what  can  be  a  greater  miracle  than 
the  conversion  of  a  degraded,  sinful  woman,  taken  from  the  very 


LIGHT  IN  DARK  PLACES.  21 

Mrs.  Fry  in  Glasgow  Prison. 

dregs  of  society?      Oh,  sir,  it  was  a  sight  worthy  the  attention 
of  angels  !  " 

The  published  accounts  of  this  remarkable  movement  in  be 
half  of  those  heretofore  considered  the  outcasts  of  society,  and 
abandoned  to  crime,  awakened  attention  throughout  Great 
Britain  and  America.  Mrs.  Fry  was  addressed  by  thoughtful 
minds  in  various  lands,  and  solicited  to  make  personal  visita 
tions  and  examinations  of  the  principal  prisons.  In  the  Bride 
well  at  Glasgow,  Scotland,  the  keeper  feared  it  would  be  a 
dangerous  experiment  to  speak  to  the  women.  "  They  had 
never,"  he  said,  "  listened  to  any  reading  except  by  compulsion, 
and  were  disposed  to  turn  any  thing  of  the  kind  into  ridicule." 
The  Scotch  lady  who  accompanied  Mrs.  Fry,  says :  "  A  hun 
dred  women  were  assembled  in  a  large  room.  She  took  off 
her  bonnet,  and  sat  down  on  a  low  seat  fronting  them.  Then 
looking  at  them  with  a  kind,  conciliating  eye,  yet  an  eye  that 
met  every  eye  there,  she  said,  '  I  had  better  just  tell  you  what 
we  are  come  about.'  She  told  them  she  had  to  deal  with  a 
great  number  of  poor  women,  sadly  wicked,  and  in  what  man 
ner  they  were  recovered  from  evil.  Her  language  was  script 
ural,  always  referring  to  our  Saviour's  promises,  and  cheering 
with  holy  hope  these  dissolute  beings.  '  Would  not  you  like 
to  turn  from  that  which  is  wrong?  Would  you  not  like  for 
ladies  to  visit  you,  and  speak  comfort  to  you,  and  help  you  to 
become  better?  Surely  you  would  tell  them  your  griefs  ;  they 
who  have  done  evil  have  many  sorrows.'  As  soon  as  she  spoke 
tears  began  to  flow.  One  very  beautiful  girl  near  me  had  her 
eyes  swimming  with  tears,  and  her  lips  moved,  as  if  following 
Mrs.  Fry.  One  old  woman,  who  held  her  Bible,  we  saw  clasp 
ing  it  with  emotion,  as  she  became  more  and  more  impressed. 


22        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 


The  Prodigal.— London  Philanthropic  Society. 

The  hands  were  ready  to  rise  at  every  pause,  and  these  callous 
and  obdurate  offenders  were,  with  one  consent,  bowed  before 
her.  Then  she  took  the  Bible,  and  read  the  parables  of  the  lost 
sheep,  the  piece  of  silver,  and  the  prodigal  son.  It  is  impossible 
for  me  to  express  the  effect  of  her  saintly  voice  while  speaking 
such  blessed  words.  She  often  paused  and  looked  at  the  poor 
women  with  a  sweetness  that  won  their  confidence,  applying 
with  beauty  and  taste  all  the  parts  of  the  story  to  them,  and  in 
a  manner  I  never  before  heard ;  particularly  the  words  '  his 
father  saw  him  when  he  was  yet  afar  off.'  A  solemn  pause  suc 
ceeded  the  reading.  Then,  resting  the  large  Bible  on  the  ground, 
we  saw  her  on  her  knees  before  them.  Her  prayer  was  devout 
and  soothing,  and  her  musical  voice,  in  the  peculiarly  sweet 
tones  of  the  Quakers,  seemed  like  the  voice  of  a  mother  to  her 
suffering  child."  * 

At  this  time  (in  1817)  her  two  brothers-in-law — the  excellent 
Samuel  Hoare  and  Sir  T.  F.  Buxton — her  brother,  well  known 
in  this  country,  Joseph  John  Gurney,  and  other  of  her  personal 
friends,  united  in  forming  a  society  for  the  improvement  of 
prison  discipline  and  for  the  reformation  of  the  juvenile 
depredators,  who,  at  this  time,  "  infested  London  in  gangs." 
This  resulted  in  the  "  London  Philanthropic  Society."  A 
large  committee  was  appointed  who  met  every  fortnight,  and 
sub-committees  were  constituted  to  attend  to  the  various  details. 
They  were  especially  impressed  with  the  importance  of  "  taking 
from  the  streets  boys  who  are  under  no  parental  control,  exposed 
to  every  temptation,  addicted  to  every  vice,  ignorant  of  all  that 
is  good,  and  trained  by  their  associates  to  the  perpetration  of 
every  crime." 

*  "Life  of  Elizabeth  Fry,"  p.  301. 


LIGHT  IN  DARK  PLACES.  23 

Boy  of  Newgate. — Prisoner  of  Donay. 

In  a  work  written  by  Sir  T.  F.  Buxton  at  this  time,  entitled 
"  An  Inquiry  whether  Crime  and  Misery  were  produced  or  pre 
vented  by  the  Present  System  of  Prison  Discipline  in  England,'* 
he  says :  "  When  I  first  went  to  Newgate,  nay  attention  was 
directed  by  my  companion  to  a  boy  whose  apparent  innocence 
and  artlessness  had  attracted  his  notice.  The  schoolmaster  said 
he  was  an  example  to  all  the  rest ;  so  quiet,  so  reserved,  and  so 
unwilling  to  have  any  intercourse  with  his  dissolute  companions. 
At  his  trial  he  was  acquitted  upon  evidence  which  did  not  leave 
a  shadow  of  suspicion  upon  him  ;  but  I  lately  recognized  him 
again  in  Newgate,  but  with  a  very  different  character.  He 
confessed  to  me,  that,  on  his  release,  he  had  associated  with  the 
acquaintances  formed  in  prison.  Of  his  ruin  I  can  feel  but  little 
doubt,  and  as  little  of  the  cause  of  it.  He  came  to  Newgate 
innocent ;  he  left  it  corrupted."  In  the  same  work  is  the  testi 
mony  of  a  condemned  murderer,  of  Douay,  France  :  "  I  await," 
said  he  to  one  who  kindly  visited  him,  "  the  hour  of  execution, 
and  since  you  are  the  first  person  who  has  visited  me,  I  will  ad 
dress  you  with  confidence  and  conceal  from  you  nothing.  I 
am  guilty  of  the  dreadful  crime  for  which  I  am  to  suffer,  but 
from  infancy  my  parents  neglected  me.  I  had  neither  a  moral 
example  nor  a  religious  education.  I  was  abandoned  to  the 
violence  of  my  passions.  I  fell  when  young  into  bad  company, 
by  whom  I  was  corrupted ;  but  it  was  in  prison  that  I  com 
pleted  my  ruin.  Among  the  persons  now  in  this  apartment  are 
several  boys,  who,  with  pain  I  observe,  are  preparing  them 
selves  for  the  further  commission  of  offences,  when  the  term  of 
their  confinement  shall  expire.  I  entreat  you  to  obtain  their 
removal  into  a  separate  ward,  and  snatch  them  from  the  conta 
gion  of  such  associates.  Believe  me,  sir,  and  I  speak  from  bit- 


24        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

First  Reformatory  in  London. 

ter  experience,  you  can  confer  on  those  boys  no  greater  favor." 
These  extracts  were  introduced  into  the  sixth  report  of  the  Brit 
ish  "  Society  for  the  Improvement  of  Prison  Discipline  and  for 
the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Offenders." 

In  one  of  their  reports,  they  utter,  with  great  wisdom,  a 
sentiment  eminently  true  of  exposed  young  persons,  and  applica 
ble  now  and  everywhere,  that  "it  is  the  ordination  of  Divine 
Wisdom  that  man  cannot  suffer  from  the  neglect  of  man  with 
out  mutual  injury ;  and  that,  by  a  species  of  moral  retribution, 
society  is  punished  by  its  omission  of  its  duties  to  the  ignorant 
and  the  guilty.  The  renewed  depredations  of  the  offender  when 
discharged  from  confinement,  the  crimes  which  he  propagates  by 
his  seduction  and  influence,  spread  pollution  among  all  with 
whom  he  associates,  and  the  number  of  offenders  thus  becomes 
indefinitely  multiplied." 

A  long  range  of  buildings  was  secured  by  the  society,  and 
devoted  to  different  mechanical  trades,  with  dormitories  for  girls 
and  separate  ones  for  boys — all  enclosed  by  a  wall.  "Within 
this  enclosure  were  also  constructed  a  chapel,  school-room,  resi 
dence  of  officers,  and  warehouse  for  the  reception  and  delivery 
of  manufactured  articles.  The  boys  were  bound  as  apprentices 
to  the  master-workmen  for  a  certain  number  of  years ;  they 
worked  throughout  the  day,  and  had  a  session  of  school  four 
evenings  in  the  week.  The  girls  were  employed  in  making, 
mending,  and  washing  the  boys'  clothes  and  in  different  kinds 
of  needlework.  At  a  suitable  age  the  girls  were  placed  out  at 
service,  and  the  boys  were  sent  to  the  colonies  or  to  America. 
In  the  annual  report  for  1823  the  managers  of  the  society  say  : 
"  The  success  of  this  institution  satisfactorily  proves  that  there 
are  few  even  among  the  most  guilty  who  may  not,  by  proper 


LIGHT  IN  DARK  PLACES.  25 


Red  Hill.— Dr.  Griscom's  Visit. 


discipline  and  treatment,  be  subdued  and  reclaimed,  and  justifies 
the  society  in  the  conviction  that  no  measure  would  be  so  effi 
cacious  in  arresting  the  progress  of  juvenile  delinquency  as  the 
establishment  of  a  well-regulated  prison  for  the  reformation  of 
criminal  youth." 

In  1849  the  institution,  which  had  accomplished  a  good  work 
among  the  exposed  and  criminal  children  of  the  city,  was  removed 
to  a  farm  at  Red  Hill,  Surrey,  in  a  rural  district,  three-quarters 
of  a  mile  from  the  Brighton  Railway  station. 

In  May,  1818,  Prof.  John  Griscom,  then  in  England,  visited 
the  building  and  work-shops  of  the  society.  "  Its  great  object," 
says  Dr.  Griscom  in  his  autobiography,  "  is  to  afford  an  asylum 
to  the  children  of  convicts,  and  those  trained  to  vicious  courses, 
public  plunder,  infamy,  and  ruin.  It  is  the  peculiar  distinction  of 
this  society  that  they  seek  for  children  in  the  nurseries  of  vice  and 
iniquity,  in  order  to  draw  them  away  from  contamination,  and  to 
bring  them  up  to  the  useful  purposes  of  life.  Prisons,  bridewells, 
and  courts  of  justice,  afford  materials  upon  wrhich  the  society  dis 
plays  its  bounty.  They  are  seldom  taken  younger  than  eight 
or  nine  or  older  than  twelve.  Within  the  buildings  of  the  society 
are  more  than  sixty  different  wards.  The  apartments  of  the 
girls  are  separated  from  those  of  the  boys  by  a  high  wall,  which 
prevents  all  intercourse.  .  .  .  The  principal  trades  pursued 
are  printing,  copperplate  printing,  bookbinding,  shoemaking, 
tailoring,  ropemaking,  and  twine-spinning.  A  portion  of  each 
boy's  earnings  goes  to  his  credit,  and  is  given  him  at  his  dis 
charge.  .  .  .  About  one  hundred  and  fifty  boys  are  within  the 
walls,  and  more  than  fifty  girls.  The  society  has  a  house  in 
another  part  of  the  town,  called  the  Reform,  where  the  most 
hardened  offenders  are  first  introduced,  and  where  they  are  care- 


26         A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

John  Falk.— Society  of  Friends  in  Need. 

fully  instructed  I'D  the  obligations  of  morality  and  religion  and 
in  school  learning.  When  out  of  school,  they  are  here  employed 
in  picking  oakum.  In  passing  through  the  workshops  of  this 
beneficent  institution,  where  industry  and  skill  were  apparent,  it 
was  cheering  to  find  that  so  many  children  were  '  snatched  as 
brands '  from  criminality  and  ruin,  and  restored  to  the  prospects 
of  respectable  and  honorable  life."  * 

The  seed  sowed  by  John  Howard  had  begun  also  to  produce 
the  same  harvests  in  portions  of  Germany  and  Prussia.  John 
Falk  was  twenty-two  years  of  age  when  Howard  died — just  the 
age  to  receive  a  powerful,  practical  impression  from  so  noble  an 
example.  Of  poor  parentage,  but  with  an  insatiable  love  for 
books  and  learning,  the  heads  of  his  native  town  of  Dantzic, 
seeing  the  great  promise  of  his  youth,  arranged  to  assist  him 
through  the  university  at  Halle.  They  required  only  one  thing 
at  his  hand  :  "  If  a  poor  child  should  ever  knock  at  your  door, 
think  it  is  we,  the  dead,  the  old  gray-headed  burgomasters  and 
councillors  of  Dantzic,  and  do  not  turn  us  away."  f  He  never 
forgot  the  request  nor  his  tacit  promise — neither  a  poor  nor  a 
criminal  child  was  turned  from  his  door,  even  when  he  knew 
not  from  whence  the  next  meal  for  those  already  dependent 
upon  him  would  come. 

In  1813,  having  lost,  while  residing  in  Weimar,  four  dearly- 
beloved  and  promising  children  within  a  few  days  of  each  other, 
"  the  bereaved  parent  resolved  to  become  the  father  of  those 
unfortunate  children  who  had  been  deprived  of  a  sound  educa 
tion  and  were  in  the  path  of  crime  and  destruction.  He  founded 
the  '  Society  of  Friends  in  Need/  for  children  of  criminals  and 

*  "Memoir  of  John  Griscom,  LL.  D.,"  p.  166. 
f  "  Praying  and  Working,"  by  Stevenson,  p.  28. 


LIGHT  IN  DARK  PLACES.  27 

Appearance  of  Children.— Great  Change. 

criminal  children,  and  adopted,  as  a  fit  symbol  for  his  establish 
ment,  the  representation  of  some  children  converting  on  the 
anvil  their  chains  into  useful  tools."  *  The  youths  that  came 
to  him  were  many  of  them  wicked  and  hopeless  enough.  One 
was  a  confirmed  beggar  at  eleven,  wretched  and  worn  so  that  he 
had  almost  lost  the  marks  of  a  human  being ;  another  was  so 
vicious,  that  he  had  been  for  some  time  chained  like  a  wild 
beast ;  still  another  had  attempted  to  hack  off  his  finger  rather 
than  work  at  the  linen  trade  ;  and  one,  a  boy  of  sixteen,  had 
murdered  two  little  girls.  "  Horrid,  cannibal-like  faces  had  they 
all,"  wrote  Perthes  of  them  in  1822,  u  with  the  image  of  the 
desert  unmistakably  imprinted  on  their  foreheads."  f  The 
results  of  his  discipline  were  encouraging  on  the  whole,  and  he 
was  able  to  write :  "  Could  you  see  us,  you  would  rejoice  and 
bless  God.  The  children  of  robbers  and  murderers  sing  psalms 
and  pray  ;  boys  are  making  locks  out  of  the  insulting  iron  which 
was  destined  for  their  hands  and  feet,  and  are  building  houses 
such  as  they  formerly  delighted  to  break  open."  Hundreds  of 
respectable  tradesmen,  clergymen,  lawyers  and  doctors,  school 
masters,  merchants,  and  artists  dated  the  commencement  of  a 
life  of  usefulness  and  honor  from  the  Reformatory  at  Weimar. 
Falk  discovered,  in  his  experiment,  that  among  the  chief  means 
of  criminal  reformation,  after  moral  and  religious  instruction, 
was  honest  and  useful  labor.  He  became  at  length  a  won 
derful  believer  in  work.  He  at  first  placed  his  boys  out  with 
different  masters,  but  at  last  brought  them  together  under  his 
own  eye,  considering  that  in  this  way  he  could  secure  better 


*  Dr.  Lieber,  in  note  to  "  The  Penitentiary  System  in  the  United  States," 
by  Beaumont  and  De  Tocqueville,  p.  108. 
f  "  Praying  and  Working,"  p.  40. 


28        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Count  Adelbert  von  der  Keche  Volmerstein. 

discipline.  A  few  days  before  his  death,  he  would  hardly  u  let 
the  ring  of  the  boys'  hammers  stop.  It  rang  in  his  ears  like 
music  to  the  end."  * 

As  early  as  1816,  Count  Adelbert  von  der  Heche  Volmer 
stein  commenced  his  truly  Christian  labors  in  Rhenish  Prussia  ; 
gathering  up  "  the  poor,  neglected,  and  abandoned  children  to 
lead  them  to  their  heavenly  Friend,  and  to  shelter,  feed,  a,nd 
clothe  them  in  His  name."  f  The  bloody  battles  of  the  first 
Napoleon  had  filled  the  country  with  orphaned  children.  u  A 
young  generation  of  swindlers,  thieves,  highway-robbers,  and 
malefactors  of  every  kind,  was  springing  up  in  consequence. 
The  back  streets,  the  lanes  and  closes  of  the  large  towns  were 
crowded  with  them.  The  public  roads  were  unsafe,  the  prisons 
were  over-peopled.  What  was  to  be  done  to  stem  the  current 
of  this  pernicious  flood  nobody  could  tell."  |  A  human  exigency 
is  the  Divine  opportunity.  The  soul  of  the  count  was  stirred 
within  him  by  the  sight  of  the  misery  and  prospective  ruin  of 
the  youth  of  his  country,  and  he  was  inspired  of  Heaven,  as  was 
Howard  before  him  for  his  pioneer  work,  to  institute  measures 
for  their  redemption. 

In  1819  his  first  formal  Home,  constructed  for  the  reforma 
tion  of  youths,  was  opened  with  the  most  simple  and  touching 
ceremonies :  "It  was  evening — in  noiseless  quiet,  the  count 
led  the  three  children,  which  he  had  already  adopted,  up  the 
little  hill  which  separated  the  asylum  from  his  house.  (He 
called  this  institution  an  '  Asylum  for  Neglected  Orphans,  and 
Children  of  Vagabonds  and  Convicts.'  For  a  shorter  title  he 

*  "Praying  and  Working,-'  p.  49. 

f  "  The  Charities  of  Europe,"  by  De  Liefde,  vol.  ii.,  p.  4. 
Ibid. 


LIGHT  IN  DARK  PLACES.  29 

Orphan-house  at  Dtisseldorf. 

called  it  by  the  name  of  Rettungs-Anstalt,  i.  e.,  Redemption 
Establishment.)  He  himself  carried  the  lantern  that  illuminated 
their  path  ;  behind  followed  the  teacher,  with  the  bibles  and 
hymn-books  ;  after  him  came  the  housekeeper,  carrying  the 
bread  and  the  ingredients  for  their  first  supper  and  breakfast ; 
the  children  carried  the  fuel.  '  Having  entered  the  Orphan- 
house,'  the  count  relates,  '  we  walked  in  solemn  procession 
through  all  its  apartments,  singing  hymns  and  praising  God. 
We  set  apart  each  room  to  its  purpose  ;  then  we  knelt  down  at 
the  footstool  of  Him  who  had  worked  in  us  to  will,  and  was 
working  in  us  to  do  also,  and  besought  that  the  labor  should 
result  to  His  glory.' " 

The  institution  was  soon  crowded,  and  in  1822  an  old 
abbey  at  Diisselthal,  near  Diisseldorf,  about  two  miles  dis 
tant  from  the  original  establishment,  was  purchased  and 
prepared  for  inmates.  Separate  buildings  for  girls,  and  ad 
ditional  ones  for  boys,  have  been  added  from  time  to  time ; 
and  the  institution,  under  the  charge  of  Christian  Frederick 
Georgi,  who  succeeded  the  count  upon  the  failure  of  his  health, 
and  retained  its  direction  until  1861,  when,  he  ceased  u  at  once 
to  work  and  live,"  has  been  one  of  the  largest  and  most  useful 
of  the  many  reformatory  establishments  in  Europe.  Like  nearly 
all  the  other  European  institutions,  it  has  been  supported  by 
voluntary  subscriptions,  and  its  statistics  seem  small  when  com 
pared  with  our  American  Houses  of  Refuge.  Mr.  Georgi's 
last  report,  made  in  1861,  showed  that  from  the  opening  in 
1819,  a  period  of  forty-one  years,  2,200  young  persons  had 
been  trained  and  sent  out  from  its  sheltering  arms ;  while,  in 
the  same  period,  more  than  10,000  passed  under  the  discipline 
of  the  New- York  House  of  Refuge. 


30        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Berlin  House  of  Refuge. 

An  institution  somewhat  similar  to  the  Count's  was  estab 
lished  in  1819  for  "  beggar-boys,"  in  the  capital  of  Prussia, 
by  Mr.  Wadzeck ;  and  in  1824  a  number  of  gentlemen  of 
Berlin  formed  a  '"  Society  for  the  Education  of  Children  Morally 
Neglected,"  which  resulted  in  the  erection  of  a  House  of 
Refuge,  under  much  the  same  discipline  as  American  institu 
tions,  bearing  the  same  name. 

None  of  these  establishments  received  their  inmates  from 
the  courts,  nor  held  them  upon  legal  warrants.  The  relation 
was  voluntary  on  both  sides.  The  children  were  generally 
under  twelve,  and  were  retained  for  a  long  period.  But  these  ex 
periments  clearly  illustrated  the  possibility  of  snatching  from 
a  criminal  life  and  certain  ruin  children  that  had  been  already 
sadly  perverted,  and  even  guilty  of  serious  offences.  Public 
attention  had  also  been  turned  to  the  most  practical  way  of  de 
fending  the  community  from  a  constant  increase  of  its  criminal 
class,  by  the  rescue  and  reformation  of  its  exposed  youth. 


THE  PHILANTHROPIST  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  31 

Pennsylvania  System  of  Prison  Discipline. — Auburn  System. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   PHILANTHROPIST   IN   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

To  the  denomination  of  Friends  in.  the  United  States  also 
are  we  indebted  for  the  earliest  efforts  for  the  improvement  of 
prisons,  the  mitigation  of  the  criminal  law.  and  the  organiza 
tion  of  the  best  measures  for  the  prevention  of  crime.  The 
visits  and  labors  among  them  of  English  Friends  quickened 
their  zeal  and  suggested  practical  measures  for  the  accomplish 
ment  of  their  object. 

As  early  as  1786  a  model  penitentiary  for  the  times  was 
constructed  through  their  influence  in  Philadelphia,  a  great 
modification  of  the  sanguinary  punishments  of  the  day  having 
been  secured.  Great  improvements  followed,  resulting  finally  in 
the  fully-developed  Pennsylvania  system  of  solitary  confinement. 

New  York  was  the  first  State  to  follow  the  good  example 
set  by  her  sister  State.  In  1797  she  adopted  a  new  penal  code 
and  new  penal  system.  The  early  experiments  served  to  show 
the  still  unremoved  evils  of  the  existing  system  of  prison  dis 
cipline.  The  solitary  system  which  had  been  chosen  in  Pennsyl 
vania  was  thought  to  entail  serious  physical  and  mental  results 
upon  its  subjects ;  finally,  in  1823,  in  Auburn,  where  the  first 
State  Prison  had  been  built,  the  State,  after  protracted  discus 
sions,  inaugurated  the  silent,  congregated  plan  of  discipline, 


32        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Effects  of  War.— John  Griscom,  LL.  D. 

which  is  now  known  throughout  the  civilized  world  as  the 
"  Auburn  system,"  and  prevails  more  generally  than  any  other. 

As  upon  the  other  continent  war  filled  the  prisons  and  forced 
into  the  streets  for  purposes  of  begging,  and  to  secure  an  uncer 
tain  livelihood,  the  children  of  the  poor  and  vicious,  so  the  last 
war  between  this  country  and  England  brought  in  its  train  its 
usual  concomitants  of  poverty  and  crime.  The  large  cities 
would  naturally  feel  the  weight  of  this  evil,  and  no  one  more 
than  New  York.  The  interesting  discussions  and  practical  ex 
periments  in  Great  Britain  had  attracted  the  attention  of  thought 
ful  philanthropists,  whose  sympathies  had  been  awakened  and 
anxieties  aroused  by  the  great  increase  of  the  suffering  and 
dangerous  classes  in  the  country. 

Among  other  intelligent  and  leading  minds  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  awake  to  every  question  affecting  the  education  and 
moral  training  of  the  community,  and  alive  to  every  call  of  suf 
fering,  temptation,  or  poverty,  was  John  Griscom,  LL.  D., 
Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Natural  Philosophy.  He  had  re 
moved,  in  1808,  to  the  city  from  Burlington,  New  Jersey,  where 
he  had  already  established  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  teacher, 
and  especially  as  a  lecturer  in  chemistry,  then  opening  as  a  new 
and  very  attractive  field  for  scientific  experiment.  As  a  teacher 
and  a  lecturer  in  New  York  he  more  than  sustained  his  previous 
ly  acquired  reputation,  became  one  of  her  most  honored  citizens, 
and  by  personal  correspondence  and  visits  held  familiar  relations 
with  the  first  scholars  in  the  natural  sciences  in  this  country  and 
in  Europe.  Professor  Griscom  was  connected  with  the  Society 
of  Friends,  and  intimately  acquainted  with  the  early  advocates 
of  criminal  reform  connected  with  this  society  in  England. 
Moved  by  the  condition  of  the  poor  and  criminal  class  in  the 


THE  PHILANTHROPIST  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  33 

Thomas  Eddy.— Public  Services. 

city,  in  1817  he  invited  several  of  his  friends  into  the  parlor  of 
his  house  upon  William  Street,  to  consider  some  practical  meas 
ure  for  the  cure  of  pauperism  and  the  diminution  of  crime. 

His  next-door  neighbor,  equally  intelligent  and  interested 
with  himself  in  such  questions,  was  Thomas  Eddy,  also  a  Friend. 
He  has  been  called  with  much  propriety  "  the  Howard  of 
America."  He  was  born  in  England,  just  about  the  time  How 
ard  was  entering  upon  his  life-work.  His  father  emigrated  to 
Philadelphia  when  he  was  a  lad,  and  was  an  iron  merchant  in 
that  city.  Thomas  came  early  to  New  York,  with  but  ninety- 
six  dollars  in  his  pocket,  but  soon,  through  his  industry  and 
intelligence,  secured  remunerative  employment.  By  1794  he 
had  acquired  a  considerable  capital,  and  was  engaged  in  many 
important  financial  undertakings.  He  was  associated  with  De 
Witt  Clinton  in  the  great  Erie  Canal  enterprise,  and  no  incon 
siderable  cause  of  its  final  success  was  attributed  to  his  indomita 
ble  perseverance  and  the  peculiar  confidence  reposed  in  his  judg 
ment  and  integrity  by  the  community. 

With  all  his  great,  warm  heart,  he  entered  into  the  national 
and  municipal  movements  for  the  amelioration  of  society.  He 
Avas  one  of  the  pioneers  in  this  country  in  the  question  of  peni 
tentiary  reforms,  one  of  the  originators  of  banks  of  savings,  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  of  the  Insti 
tution  for  the  training  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb.  Of  his  efficient 
instrumentality  in  the  establishment  of  the  New  York  House  of 
Refuge,  Hon.  Cadwallader  D.  Colden  says,  as  published  in  the 
life  of  Mr.  Eddy  by  Samuel  Knapp :  "  I  had  a  more  intimate 
association  with  Mr.  Eddy  in  this  charity,  from  its  origin  to  his 
death,  than  in  any  other  of  which  we  were  members.  Though 
there  were  many  who  participated  with  him  in  this  humane 
3 


34        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Preventive  Eefuge.— Asylum  for  Convicts. 

enterprise,  yet  I  do  not  think  it  is  going  too  far  to  say  that  its 
foundation  and  success  were  in  a  great  measure  owing  to  him  ; 
at  least  it  may  be  questioned  whether,  without  his  indefatigable 
exertions,  this  important  measure  for  the  prevention  of  crime 
would  have  been  so  soon  adopted."  At  his  death  he  left  to  the 
institution  a  handsome  sum  of  mone}r,  the  interest  of  which  has 
been  devoted  to  a  library.  Mayor  Golden  attributes  to  Mr. 
Eddy  the  peculiar  discrimination  of  suggesting  the  preventive 
office  of  the  Refuge.  European  institutions  had  been  constructed 
for  young  criminals,  but  no  one  had  secured  the  power  from  the 
State  of  withdrawing,  from  the  custody  of  weak  or  criminal 
parents,  children  who  were  vagabonds  in  the  streets  and  iu 
peril  of  a  criminal  life,  although  no  overt  act  had  been  commit 
ted.  The  mayor  well  remarks  :  "  Deprived  of  this  power,  the 
institution  would  lose  much  of  its  influence." 

The  thoughtful  and  practical  mind  of  Mr.  Eddy  appreciated 
another  want  which  has  not  yet  been  met,  but  is  a  pressing  neces 
sity  in  the  administration  of  penitentiary  discipline  at  the  present 
hour.  He  wished  to  secure  the  establishment  of  an  asylum  for 
convicts  who  had  finished  their  imprisonment,  where  employment 
could  be  afforded  them  at  a  proper  recompense,  until  there  should 
be  some  providential  opening  for  them  to  begin  life  anew.  The 
system  of  prison  discipline  now  successfully  inaugurated  in  Ire 
land  seems  in  a  good  degree  to  meet  this  important  requisition, 
and  to  bridge  over  the  heretofore  fatal  chasm  between  the  hour 
of  a  convict's  discharge,  without  character  or  means,  and  his 
entrance  upon  an  honest  remunerative  employment. 

The  original  suggestion  of  such  an  asylum  may  have  been 
received  by  him  from  a  communication  made  by  Edward  Liv 
ingston,  the  father  of  legal  and  penitentiary  reform  in  this  coun- 


THE  PHILANTHROPIST  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  35 

Edward  Livingston. — Discharged  Convicts. 

try,  to  the  Mechanics'  Society,  of  New  York,  in  1803,  when  he 
was  mayor  of  the  city.  He  proposed  to  the  society,  jointly  with 
the  city,  to  found  an  establishment  in  which  to  provide  employ 
ment  for  strangers  during  the  first  month  after  their  arrival  in 
this  country,  for  citizens  who  through  sickness  or  casualty  had 
lost  their  usual  employment,  for  widows  and  orphans  incapable 
of  labor,  and  for  discharged  or  pardoned  convicts  from  the  State 
Prison.  With  his  characteristic  eloquence  and  humanity  he 
remarks  :  "  It  must  be  evident  that  nothing  will  tend  so  much 
to  defeat  the  principal  object  of  reformation,  and  at  the  same 
time  endanger  the  security  of  the  city,  as  the  situation  in  which 
those  stand  at  the  time  of  their  discharge,  who  have  undergone 
the  sentence  of  the  law.  The  odium  justly  attached  to  the 
crime  is  continued  to  the  culprit  after  he  has  suffered  its  penalty  ; 
he  is  restored  to  society,  but  prejudice  repels  him  from  its 
bosom  ;  he  has  acquired  the  skill  and  has  the  inclination  to  pro 
vide  honestly  for  his  support.  Years  of  penitence  and  labor 
have  wiped  away  his  crime,  and  given  him  habits  of  industry 
and  skill  to  direct  them.  But  no  means  are  provided  for  their 
exertion.  He  has  no  capital  of  his  own,  and  that  of  others  will 
not  be  intrusted  to  him  ;  he  is  not  permitted  to  labor  ;  he  dares 
not  beg ;  and  he  is  forced  for  subsistence  to  plunge  anew  into 
the  same  crimes,  to  suffer  the  same  punishment  he  has  just  un 
dergone,  or,  perhaps,  with  more  caution  and  address,  to  escape 
it.  Thus  the  penitentiary,  instead  of  diminishing,  may  increase 
the  number  of  offences."  *  This  paper  simply  anticipated  the 
careful  elaboration  of  such  an  addition  to  the  penitentiary  sys 
tem,  which  appeared,  in  1821,  in  the  well-known  and  remarkable 
"  Livingston  Code,"  which  he  prepared  for  the  State  of  Louisi- 

*  "  Life  of  Edward  Livingston,"  by  George  Havens  Hunt,  p.  94. 


36    A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Livingston  Code.— Eddy's  Correspondence. 

ana ;  a  code,  which,  although  not  accepted,  anticipated  and  be 
came  the  model  for  all  future  modifications  of  criminal  law  and 
discipline,  and  made  at  the  time  of  its  publication  a  profound  and 
practical  impression  upon  the  thoughtful  men  of  Europe.  In 
his  punitive  and  reformatory  system,  he  provides — 

A  House  of  Detention  ; 

A  Penitentiary ; 

A  House  of  Refuge  and  Industry  ;   and 

A  School  of  Reform.* 

The  latter  was  arranged  upon  a  plan  almost  identical  with  that 
of  the  New- York  House  of  Refuge,  and  may  have  guided  the 
minds  and  hands  of  the  noble  men  who  constituted  the  system, 
which  now  for  nearly  a  half  century  has  justified  the  wisdom 
and  benevolence  of  their  work. 

Mr.  Eddy  was  in  correspondence,  at  this  time,  with  Mr.  Liv 
ingston,  with  the  cultivated  William  Roscoe  the  well-known  Eng 
lish  reformer,  "  and,"  says  his  biographer,  "  with  some  of  the  first 
men  in  Europe  and  the  United  States,  upon  the  great  objects  of 
reform  in  prisons,  hospitals,  penal  codes,  schools,  and  almost 
every  other  topic  which  the  best  minds  of  the  civilized  world 
are  now  discussing."  With  his  foreign  correspondents  he  was 
in  the  habit  of  exchanging  public  documents  upon  all  these  sub 
jects,  and  had  accumulated  in  his  library  reports  and  addresses, 
exhibiting  the  progress  of  European  reform  in  almost  every 
direction.  u  His  object  and  unshaken  purpose  seemed  to  be," 
says  Mayor  Golden,  "to  diffuse,  by  every  possible  means  and 
reasonable  effort  on  his  part,  a  liberal,  enlightened,  humane, 
active,  and  Christian  public  spirit.  He  possessed,  far  beyond 
the  race  of  ordinary  men,  the  philanthropy  of  Howard ;  and, 

*  "  Life  of  Edward  Livingston,"  by  George  Havens  Hunt,  p.  208. 


THE  PHILANTHROPIST  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  37 

Mr.  Pintard.— Letter  to  Isaac  Collins. 

under  the  influence  of  so  illustrious  an  example,  he  appeared  to 
be  willing  to  devote  himself  '  to  survey  the  mansions  of  sorrow 
and  pain,'  and  to  mitigate  human  misery,  in  whatever  form  it 
might  meet  the  eye  or  awaken  sympathy." 

Another  gentleman  present  at  this  informal  meeting  was 
John  Pintard,  a  public-spirited  merchant  of  the  city,  who  was 
afterward  very  efficient  in  the  organization  of  savings  banks, 
and  was  the  founder  of  the  New- York  Historical  Society. 

Mr.  Pintard  preserved  to  the  close  of  his  life  his  interest  in 
the  reformatory  institution  which  finally  grew  out  of  this  pre 
liminary  meeting.  The  writer  has  before  him  a  manuscript  let 
ter,  written  January  4,  1826,  after  the  House  of  Refuge  had 
been  a  year  in  operation,  addressed  to  his  friend  Isaac  Collins, 
expressing  his  "  great  satisfaction  on  reading  the  first  report," 
and  making  two  valuable  suggestions  in  reference  to  indentured 
children.  The  first  was,  that  they  should  not  be  discharged  un 
til  they  could  read,  write,  and  cipher,  "  as  far  as  the  rule  of 
three  ;  "  and  the  second,  that  they  should  have  an  entirely  new 
suit  of  clothes  throughout,  so  that,  "  when  taking  leave  of  the 
house  and  of  those  they  leave  behind,  they  may  go  abroad  with 
a  ;  freedom  suit,'  and  walk  erect  like  regenerated  beings,  with  a 
new  character  in  society.  The  impression  would  operate  alike 
favorably  on  the  liberated  and  upon  those  looking  forward  to 
the  happy  day  of  their  release."  He  adds  :  "A  Bible,  I  presume, 
is  always  given  on  these  occasions."  The  letter  closes  with 
the  characteristic  and  affecting  sentence  :  "  Accept  these  hints 
from  one  who,  almost  past  the  days  of  active  exertion,  keeps  a 
steady  eye  on  the  progress  of  benevolent  and  useful  institutions, 
among  which  the  House  of  Refuge  ranks  next  to  our  free 
schools." 


38        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Gen.  Mathew  Clarkson. — Divie.  Bethune. 

As  the  result  of  this  informal  meeting,  a  number  of  influential 
gentlemen  were  invited  to  meet  at  the  New-York  Hospital  on 
the  16th  of  December,  1817.  General  Mathew  Clarkson,  a 
general  officer  in  the  American  army  in  the  Revolution,  after 
ward  vice-president  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  was  chair 
man  of  this  meeting,  and  Divie  Bethune,  a  benevolent  merchant, 
noted  for  his  interest  in  Sabbath-schools,  and  for  the  distribution, 
at  his  own  expense,  of  Bibles  and  tracts,  was  secretary.  A  com 
mittee  was  appointed  u  to  prepare  a  constitution  and  a  statement 
of  the  prevailing  causes  of  pauperism,  with  suggestions  relative 
to  the  most  suitable  and  efficient  remedies."  *  The  meeting 
also  constituted  itself  into  a  "  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 
Pauperism." 

The  first  regular  meeting  of  the  society  was  called  upon  the 
6th  of  February,  of  the  ensuing  year,  and  a  full  and  elaborate 
report  was  made  upon  the  causes  and  remedies  of  pauperism. 
The  paper  attracted  iinuch  attention  in  England,  and  was  trans 
lated  at  the  instance  of  a  similar  society  in  Geneva. 

The  interest  of  the  officers  of  the  society  was  at  once  awak 
ened  by  the  condition  of  the  criminal  institutions  connected  with 
the  city  ;  and  in  the  second  report,  bearing  the  date  of  Decem 
ber  29,  1819,  attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  in  the  Bellevtie 
Prison  there  was  no  separation  made  between  mature  and  juve 
nile  offenders.  "  Here  is  one  great  school  of  vice  and  despera 
tion,"  they  say  ;  "  with  confirmed  and  unrepentant  criminals  we 
place  these  novices  in  guilt, — these  unfortunate  children,  from 


*  This  committee  was  composed  of  the  following  gentlemen  :  John  Gris- 
corn,  chairman  ;  Brockholst  Livingston,  "  an  accomplished  scholar,  a  bril 
liant  advocate,  and  a  successful  judge,"  Garrett  N.  Bleecker,  Thomas  Eddy, 
James  Eastburn,  Rev.  Cave  Jones,  Zachariah  Lewis,  and  Divie  Bethune. 


HON.  CADWALLADBR  D.  COLDER. 


p.  33. 


THE  PHILANTHROPIST  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  39 


Hon.  Cadwallader  D.  Colden. 


ten  to  eighteen  years  of  age,  who,  from  neglect  of  parents,  from 
idleness,  or  misfortune,  have  been  doomed  to  the  penitentiary 
by  condemnation  of  law."  With  great  force  and  propriety  they 
start  the  pregnant  inquiry,  "  And  is  this  the  place  for  reform  ?  " 
As  a  remedy,  the  report  recommends  the  erection  of  a  building, 
at  a  moderate  expense,  within  the  precincts  of  the  penitentiary, 
for  the  younger  convicts. 

Hon.  Cadwallader  D.  Colden  was  at  this  time  mayor  of  the 
city.  He  was  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  as  noted  for  his  public 
spirit  as  for  his  noble  character  and  large  attainments.  He 
freely  yielded  his  valuable  services  and  influence  to  every  form 
of  public  benevolence  that  sought  his  aid.  With  characteristic 
modesty  and  nobility  of  mind  he  yielded  to  others  the  generous 
praise  of  being  most  efficient  in  the  establishment  of  the  House 
of  Refuge,  but  his  colleagues  in  the  management  of  that  institu 
tion,  upon  his  death  in  1834,  bear  unqualified  testimony  as  to 
the  inestimable  value  of  his  public  services  at  Albany  and  Wash 
ington,  as  a  magistrate  in  the  city,  as  a  manager  and  as  the  pres 
ident  of  the  Board  for  eight  years,  in  behalf  of  that  institution. 

When  in  January,  1830,  his  removal  from  the  city  rendered 
it  necessary  for  him  to  resign  his  office  as  president  of  the 
Board,  he  remarks  in  his  letter  to  the  managers  :  "  There  is 
nothing  in  which  I  have  been  concerned  to  which  I  look  back 
with  more  satisfaction  than  I  do  to  the  share  I  liave  had  in  the 
establishment  of  an  institution,  which,  in  itself,  and  as  an  ex 
ample,  should  it  not  be  destroyed  by  jealousy  and  prejudice,  will, 
I  am  convinced,  have  a  benign  influence  on  the  condition  of 
mankind." 

His  widow,  in  acknowledging  the  deserved  tribute  of  respect 
paid  to  him  by  the  managers,  says :  "  This  was  indeed  his  most 


40        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Mayor's  Court. — Mayor  Colden's  Report. 

favorite  institution  among  the  many  over  which  he  presided, 
with  that  zeal  and  anxious  care  which  his  benevolence  of  char 
acter  always  prompted." 

The  mayor  at  this  time  was  the  presiding  judge  of  the  Mu 
nicipal  Court.  He  was  particularly  interested  in  that  portion 
of  the  report  referring  to  the  depraving  influence  of  the  prison 
over  the  youths  committed  to  its  custody.  Many  young  persons 
of  both  sexes  were  brought  before  his  court,  and  he  had  found, 
that  if  they  were  sent  to  the  penitentiary,  for  even  a  short 
period,  they  were  no  sooner  liberated  than  they  returned  to  a 
life  of  crime.  He  responded  to  the  report  of  the  society  in  an 
admirable  letter,  protesting  against  the  herding  of  young  and 
old  convicts  together,  especially  females,  and  offering  heartily  to 
correspond  with  them  in  efforts  for  the  removal  of  this  evil. 

The  report  of  the  society  for  1821  was  written  by  Mayor 
Golden,  and  in  it  he  inquires  :  "  Shall  it  in  future  times  be  said 
of  New  York,  that  she  has  educated  a  portion  of  her  native  youth 
with  a  gang  of  felons  in  the  penitentiary ;  and  this,  too,  because 
these  youths  have  in  their  infancy  been  abandoned  by  the  hand 
that  should  have  protected  them  ?  Under  the  present  state  of 
things,  the  penitentiary  cannot  but  be  a  fruitful  source  of  pauper 
ism,  a  nurseryof  new  vices  and  crimes,  a  college  for  the  perfection 
of  adepts  in  guilt.  The  condition  of  the  Bridewell  is  no  better." 
At  how  favorable  a  period  were  these  energetic  movements  for 
the  relief  of  the  poor,  and  for  the  reformation  of  vicious  and  crim 
inal  children,  originated  !  It  was  just  upon  the  eve  of  the  flood 
of  immigration  which  has  since  then  poured  into  our  country, 
chiefly  through  New- York  City,  as  a  great  gateway.  The  popu 
lation  of  the  city  was  still  homogeneous  in  a  good  degree  ;  its 
government  was  in  the  hands  of  its  ablest  men,  and  enjoyed  the 


THE  PHILANTHROPIST  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  41 


Adjt.-Gen.  Haines.— Report  on  Penitentiary  System  in  the  United  States. 

confidence  of  its  citizens  ;  and  its  men  of  substance  and  intelli 
gence  were  marked  by  their  public  spirit  and  interest  in  the 
general  welfare  of  the  community.  The  population  of  the  city 
at  this  time  was  123,000 — one-eighth  of  its  present  census. 

Mayor  Golden  recommended  for  consideration  thirteen  top 
ics,  as  bearing  upon  the  question  of  Pauperism,  the  last  of 
which  was  Juvenile  Delinquency.  In  1822  the  society  issued 
an  exceedingly  interesting  and  valuable  paper  upon  "  the  Peni 
tentiary  System  in  the  United  States."  The  committee  ap 
pointed  to  consider  the  subject  consisted  of  the  honored  names 
of  C.  D.  Golden,  Thomas  Eddy.  Peter  A.  Jay,  Rev.  James  Mil- 
ner,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Cave  Jones,  Isaac  Collins,  Richard  R.  Ward, 
and  Charles  G.  Haines.  Mr.  Golden  was  to  have  drawn  up  the 
report,  but  being  at  this  time  elected  to  Congress,  the  pressure  of 
public  and  professional  duty  rendered  it  impossible  for  him  to 
perform  this  service.  It  was  therefore  committed  to  Adjutant- 
General  Haines,  an  able  and  influential  lawyer  of  New  York, 
chiefly  interested  in  political  and  public  questions.  It  was  a 
very  elaborate  and  extended  work,  exciting  general  attention  in 
this  country  and  in  Europe.  The  report  argues  with  great  force 
the  necessity  of  providing  new  and  separate  prisons  for  juvenile 
offenders,  and  insists  upon  the  possibility  of  securing,  as  a  general 
rule,  the  reformation  of  the  young  criminal.  u  These  prisons," 
the  report  goes  on  to  say,  "  should  be  rather  schools  for  instruc 
tion  than  places  for  punishment  like  our  present  State  prisons, 
where  the  young  and  old  are  confined  indiscriminately.  The 
youth  confined  there  should  be  placed  under  a  course  of  disci 
pline  severe  and  unchanging,  but  alike  calculated  to  subdue  and 
conciliate.  The  wretchedness  and  misery  of  the  offender  should 
not  be  the  object  of  the  punishment  inflicted ;  the  end  should  be 


42         A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 


Juvenile  Offenders.— Hugh  Maxwell,  Esq. 


his  reformation  and  future  usefulness.  Two  objects  should  be 
attended  to  :  first,  regular  and  constant  employment  in  branches 
of  industry  that  would  enable  the  convict  to  attain  the  future 
means  of  livelihood  ;  and  secondly,  instruction  in  the  elementary 
branches  of  education,  and  the  careful  inculcation  of  religious 
and  moral  principles.  The  latter  would  be  vitally  important." 
In  reference  to  the  incidental  expense  of  such  institutions,  the 
report  urges  the  obvious  inquiry :  "  Which,  then,  is  the  cheapest, 
to  take  five  hundred  juvenile  offenders,  and  render  the  great  part 
of  them  honest  and  useful  men,  by  a  new  course  of  punishment, 
attended  with  no  extraordinary  expense,  or  to  thrust  them  into 
our  present  penitentiaries,  with  a  moral  certainty  of  their  com 
ing  out  with  new  vices  and  with  fresh  desperation — with  the 
moral  certainty  of  their  either  being  in  prison  as  a  public 
burden  their  whole  lives,  or  of  their  living,  when  out,  by  depre 
dation  and  knavery  ?  " 

The  special  committee  appointed  to  write  the  next  annual 
report  determined  to  consider  almost  solely  the  question  of 
juvenile  delinquency.  The  head  of  this  committee,  and  the  au 
thor  of  the  paper  read,  was  James  "W.  Gerard,  Esq.,  still  living 
to  mark  the  ever-widening  circle  of  influence  resulting  from  the 
establishment  of  an  institution,  the  first  specific  proposition  for 
which  was  the  act  of  his  own  hand. 

The  necessity  for  some  institution  to  meet  the  wants  of  the 
children  constantly  brought  to  the  bar  of  the  mayor's  court  was 
seriously  felt  by  every  one  connected  with  the  administration  of 
justice  in  the  city.  Hugh  Maxwell,  Esq.,  was  then  district 
attorney ;  he  distinctly  recollects  (remaining  with  us  still,  as  he 
does,  in  a  hale  and  honored  old  age)  both  the  difficulties  and  the 
dangers  attending  the  trials  of  youths  accused  of  crimes.  Juries, 


THE  PHILANTHROPIST  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  43 

Number  of  Young  Criminals.— Effect  of  Prison  upon  them. 

on  account  of  their  tender  age,  were  unwilling  to  convict  and 
send  them  to  prison.  They  would  therefore  be  discharged,  with 
a  feeling  of  impunity,  to  be  returned  to  the  court  again  in  a  few 
days  for  more  serious  offences.  If  conviction  were  secured,  the 
children  were  sure  to  be  corrupted  and  ruined  by  the  influences 
of  the  Bridewell.  Says  Mr.  Maxwell,  in  answer  to  the  inquiries 
ot  the  committee,  of  which  Dr.  Griscom  was  chairman,  appoint 
ed  after  the  report  of  Mr.  Gerard  was  read :  "  That  many  of 
these  youths  might  be  saved  from  continued  transgression  no 
one  can  doubt,  who  will  examine  the  statement  which  I  have 
made  from  the  records  of  the  police  office  for  1822.  This 
abstract  contains  the  names  of  more  than  four  hundred  and  fifty 
persons,  male  and  female,  none  over  the  age  of  twenty-five, 
many  much  younger,  and  some  so  young  as  to  be  presumed 
incapable  of  crime.  Many  others  not  mentioned  have  been  dis 
charged,  from  an  unwillingness  to  imprison,  in  hope  of  reforma 
tion,  or  under  peculiar  circumstances.  It  would  be  indeed 
difficult  to  determine  who  would  and  who  would  not  be  influ 
enced  by  such  an  institution  to  leave  the  paths  of  vice ;  un 
worthy  objects  might  be  received,  imposition  practised,  yet 
surely,  out  of  three  or  four  hundred  miserable  beings,  some 
would  be  found  worthy  of  protection,  and  desirous  of  amend 
ment."  He  further  remarks  :  "  Many  notorious  thieves  infest 
ing  the  city  were  at  first  idle,  vagrant  boys,  imprisoned  for  a 
short  period  to  keep  them  from  mischief.  A  second  and  third 
imprisonment  is  inflicted,  the  prison  becomes  familiar  and  agree 
able,  and  at  the  expiration  of  their  sentence  they  come  out 
accomplished  in  iniquity.  At  each  term  of  the  court  the  aver 
age  number  of  lads  arraigned  for  petty  theft  is  five  or  six,  and 
I  regret  to  state  that  lately  high  crimes  have  been  perpetrated 


44         A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Committee  to  Consider  Juvenile  Delinquency. 

in  several  instances  by  boys  not  over  sixteen,  who  at  first  were 
idle  street-vagrants,  and  by  degrees  thieves,  burglars,  and 
robbers." 

The  gentlemen  associated  with  Mr.  Gerard,  in  the  com 
mittee  appointed  to  consider  the  question  of  Juvenile  Delin 
quency,  were  J.  W.  Stearns,  M.  D.,  and  Hiram  Ketchum,  Esq. 
The  report,  which  was  written  by  Mr.  Gerard,  and  which  em 
bodied  the  idea  afterward  realized  in  the  House  of  Refuge,  its 
paper  yellow  and  its  ink  pale  with  age,  is  still  preserved  by  its 
honored  author,  as  an  interesting  and  memorable  relic,  and  as 
a  production  upon  which  his  surviving  family  will  look  as  a 
significant  memorial  of  the  early  dedication  of  his  valuable 
services  to  the  best  interests  of  the  young  people  of  his  gener 
ation. 


HET.IOrjJiAPlIIC  ElxTORs  &-.?TUl\T'-  I/O. 135  W. 


THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  REFORM ATIOX,  ETC.  45 

James  W.  Gerard,  Esq. — First  Criminal  Case. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE   REFORMATION  OF  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

JAMES  W.  GERARD,  Esq.,  was  at  this  time  a  young  lawyer, 
and  had  been  practising  in  the  city  for  a  few  years.  His  pro 
fession  and  his  inclination  led  him  to  take  an  intelligent  interest 
in  the  current  questions  of  the  day  relating  to  pauperism  and 
crime.  He  became  a  manager  of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention 
of  Pauperism,  and  relates  a  striking  incident  occurring  about 
this  time,  which  drew  his  mind  in  a  special  manner  toward 
young  offenders. 

The  first  criminal  case  that  he  was  called  to  defend  was  that 
of  a  fine-looking,  well-dressed  lad,  of  fourteen  years  of  age.  He 
was  the  son  of  respectable  parents ;  he  had  been  arrested  and 
brought  to  trial  for  the  theft  of  a  canary  bird.  The  case  was 
heard  in  the  mayor's  court  before  Mr.  Golden,  and  was  prose 
cuted  by  Mr.  Maxwell,  the  district  attorney  ;  the  three,  judge, 
attorney,  and  counsel,  were  not  long  after  associated  together  in 
an  institution  for  the  reformation  of  just  such  young  criminals. 
Mr.  Gerard  attempted  to  secure  the  discharge  of  his  client  upon 
the  ground  that  a  canary  bird,  being  ferae,  naturae,  was  not  a  sub 
ject  of  larceny ;  but  in  this  plea  he  was  overruled  by  the  court. 
To  save  the  boy  from  what  seemed  to  his  counsel  would  be  his 
certain  ruin,  he  pressed  upon  the  jury  the  fact,  that  as  there 


46         A  HALF  CENTUKY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Effect  of  Escape  from  Conviction  upon  Boy. — Incident  at  House  of  Refuge. 

was  no  separate  prison  for  boys,  he  would  be  thrown  into  the 
company  of  old  and  hardened  villains,  whose  conversation  and 
influence  would  utterly  corrupt  him,  and  extinguish  every  spark 
of  honesty  within  him.  The  jury,  eager  to  find  any  loophole 
lo  permit  them  to  escape  deliberately  condemning  a  boy  to  cer 
tain  moral  ruin,  yielding  to  the  persuasion  of  the  advocate  rather 
than  to  the  law  in  the  case,  refused  to  find  him  guilty,  and  the 
boy  was  discharged.  The  sequel  was  a  sad  one,  and  deeply  im 
pressed  upon  the  mind  of  the  young  lawyer  the  importance  of 
securing,  in  such  a  case,  some  positive  and  powerful  reformatory 
agency  to  counteract  the  effect  of  temptation  and  evil  habits. 
The  boy,  emboldened  by  this  easy  acquittal  which  followed  his 
first  offence,  very  soon  fell  into  the  commission  of  more  serious 
crimes.  Under  the  tuition  of  those  he  met  during  his  limited 
term  in  the  penitentiary,  he  became  a  confirmed  criminal,  and 
some  years  since  died  in  prison,  while  serving  out  a  sentence  for 
larceny.  Singularly  enough,  while  he  was  in  prison  a  fortune  of 
eighty  thousand  dollars  was  left  to  him. 

The  early  incidents  in  this  case  led  Mr.  Gerard  to  the  convic 
tion  that  something  should  be  done  to  rescue  the  youth  of  both 
sexes,  who  wTere  in  peril  of  a  criminal  life,  from  their  inevitable 
corruption  if  left  to  themselves  or  committed  to  the  penitentiary. 
An  incident  which  Mr.  Gerard  related,  at  the  opening  of  the  new 
house  on  Randall's  Island,  forms  a  very  happy  counterpart  to  the 
one  which  so  powerfully  impressed  his  mind  with  the  peril  of  ex 
posed  children,  and  justifies  the  wisdom  of  the  plan  which  he  had 
the  honor  to  place  before  the  community,  for  the  first  time,  in  a 
tangible  form.  Within  a  month,  he  remarked  at  that  time,  he 
had  met  one,  now  a  man,  and  an  active  man  of  business,  who 
had  been  checked  in  a  career  of  temptation  and  wrong-doing  by 


THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  REFORMATION,  ETC.  47 

Mr.  Gerard's  Inquiries.— Isaac  Collins. 

his  reception  into  the  House  of  Refuge  and  by  the  discipline 
which  he  there  received.  When  the  person  referred  to  addressed 
him  he  had  forgotten  his  name,  but  his  face  was  very  familiar 
to  him.  He  was  now  a  thriving  man  of  business  in  the  city ; 
he  had  not  forgotten  the  short  addresses  which  Mr.  Gerard,  then 
a  manager,  in  the  early  days  of  the  House  of  Refuge,  had  made 
to  the  boys.  "One  such  case,"  Mr.  Gerard  remarked,  u  com 
pensated  for  all  the  labor  he  had  bestowed,  in  aiding  to  form 
this  most  valuable  institution  ;  "  and  he  added  with  great  force, 
"  doubtless  if  that  person  sees  the  report  of  this  day's  proceed 
ings,  he  will  pour  out  in  the  gratitude  of  his  heart  a  silent 
blessing  upon  those  who  snatched  him  from  ruin." 

In  preparing  his  report,  Mr.  Gerard  visited  the  Bridewell, 
Penitentiary,  and  State  Prison,  and  conversed  with  police 
justices  and  criminal  lawyers,  that  he  might  have  full  and  cor 
rect  information  upon  the  subject.  For  suggestions  in  reference 
to  the  course  pursued  by  the  London  Philanthropic  Society 
in  the  work  of  juvenile  reform,  and  for  documentary  state 
ments,  he  went  to  Isaac  Collins — a  name  inseparably  connected 
with  the  most  important  reformatory  institutions  of  New  York 
and  Philadelphia.  He  was  the  son,  and  a  successor,  with  his 
brothers,  to  the  business  of  the  well-known  printer  and  book 
publisher  of  the  same  name,  whose  octavo  family  Bible,  pub 
lished  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  having  been  subjected  to 
eleven  proof-readings,  was  considered  so  free  from  errors,  that 
it  became  at  once  the  standard  for  critical  appeal  whenever  the 
English  translation  alone  was  concerned.*  The  sons  followed 
the  religious  persuasion  of  their  father,  that  of  a  Friend,  as  well 
as  his  form  of  business.  Mr.  Collins's  circumstances  enabled  him 

*  "  New  American  Encyclopaedia." 


48    A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVEXILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Mr.  Collins  at  the  Convention  in  1857. 

early,  as  his  tastes  and  sense  of  duty  drew  him,  to  devote  his 
personal  attention  to  the  most  important  benevolent  and  moral 
movements  of  the  day.  He  was  in  correspondence  with  English 
Friends,  and  familiar  with  the  reformatory  measures  which  had 
been  taken  in  Great  Britain.  From  the  first,  until  he  removed 
to  Philadelphia,  he  was  one  of  the  most  active  and  efficient 
managers  of  the  House  of  Refuge.  In  a  convention  of  the 
friends  of  juvenile  reform,  held  in  this  city,  in  May,  1857,  over 
which  Mr.  Collins  presided,  Mr.  Gerard,  in  an  introductory 
address,  remarked  :  "  From  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  with  whom  I 
freely  consulted,  I  received  most  useful  hints  and  information. 
You  were,  at  that  time,  not  only  one  of  the  leading  managers 
of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Pauperism,  but  were  ac 
tively  engaged  in  numerous. philanthropic  plans  for  the  improve 
ment  of  the  pauper  population  of  our  city,  and  you  lent  me,  I 
remember,  a  report  of  a  kindred  establishment  in  London,  from 
which  I  made  extracts  of  individual  cases,  appended  to  my 
address."  In  his  own  opening  remarks,  upon  this  occasion, 
Mr.  Collins  expressed  the  satisfaction  he  felt  in  remembering 
the  services  he  had  been  able  to  offer,  in  the  establishment  and 
early  years  of  this  "great  Christian  institution."  He  felt  a  sad 
ness,  he  said,  as  he  recalled  the  names  of  the  noble  band  of 
philanthropists  with  whom  he  had  been  associated  in  the  un 
dertaking,  and  who  had  been  since  "  gathered  to  their  eternal 
rest"' — names  of  which  the  State  might  justly  be  proud — "  the 
Clintons,  the  Coldens,  the  Aliens,  the  Jays,  the  Cornells,  and 
many  others.  *  ...  My  heart  swells  with  gratitude,"  he  con 
tinued,  "  to  find  that  this  institution,  which,  in  its  inception, 

*  "  Proceedings  of  a  Convention  of  Managers  and  Superintendents  of  Re 
formatories,"  New  York,  1857. 


THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  REFORMATION,  ETC.  49 

Meeting  at  Assembly-room  of  City  Hotel. — Mr.  Gerard's  Report. 

may  be  compared  to  a  grain  of  mustard-seed,  has  grown  to  a 
great  tree,  which  now  spreads  its  branches  through  many  of  our 
States." 

On  Friday,  February  7,  1823,  a  meeting  of  the  Society 
for  the  Prevention  of  Pauperism  was  called  "  in  the  large 
assembly-room  of  the  City  Hotel,  Broadway."  It  was'  ex 
tremely  cold,  but  so  much  interest  had  already  been  awakened 
in  reference  to  the  objects  of  the  society,  that  a  good  audience 
was  present,  many  ladies  being  of  the  number.  The  chair  was 
taken  by  the  Rev.  Cave  Jones,  and  Mr.  Gerard  read  the  annual 
report,  which  was  almost  wholly  devoted  to  the  consideration  of 
the  subject  of  juvenile  delinquency.  "  Those  who  are  in  the 
habit,"  he  says,  "  of  attending  our  criminal  courts  as  jurors,  or 
otherwise,  must  be  convinced  of  the  very  great  increase  of 
juvenile  delinquency  within  these  few  years  past,  and  of  the 
necessity  of  immediate  measures  to  arrest  so  great  an  evil. 
What  increases  the  cause  for  apprehension  is,  that  punishment 
produces  no  reformation,  and  the  young  convict  is  no  sooner 
released  from  prison  than  he  is  again  arraigned  for  other  crimes, 
until  time  confirms  him  to  be  a  hardened  offender,  whom  youth 
ful  indiscretion,  or  the  force  of  example,  at  first  caused  to 
deviate  from  rectitude.  Had  he  been  taken  by  some  friendly 
hand,  on  his  discharge  from  prison  for  his  first  offence,  and 
taught  to  know  his  faults  and  how  to  mend  them,  instead  of 
passing  his  days  in  crime,  and  perhaps  ending  them  on  a 
gallows,  he  might  have  become  an  honest  and  a  useful  man." 

The  inability  of  the  public  schools  to  correct  this  evil,  the 
sad  condition  of  the  unclassified  penitentiaries,  already  contain 
ing  a  large  number  of  youths  of  both  sexes,  are  dwelt  upon  at 
length.    The  report  then  insists  that  "  there  should  be  a  separate : 
4 


50        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Eefuge  for  Discharged  Criminals. 

building  for  the  imprisonment  of  young  offenders  both  before  and 
after  trial.  If  we  may  so  speak,  we  should  endeavor  to  hide  it 
from  themselves  that  they  are  prisoners. 

"  The  consciousness  of  crime  and  punishment,  and  consequent 
disgrace,  at  once  break  down  the  spirit  of  youth,  and  their  inde 
pendence  of  character.  If  it  were  possible,  they  should  hear  no 
clanking  of  chains ;  feel  no  restraint  of  bolts  and  bars :  they 
should  be  made  to  think  rather  that  they  are  in  a  place  of  instruc 
tion  and  WORK,  preparing  for  their  future  support  and  useful 
ness,  than  in  a  prison  suffering  punishment  as  an  atonement  for 
their  offences." 

The  report  alludes  to  certain  experiments,  successfully  tried 
in  the  Eastern  States  and  in  Philadelphia,  to  classify  juvenile 
offenders  by  themselves,  and  finally  develops  the  most  vital 
idea  of  the  whole  paper.  "Connected,"  says  Mr.,  Gerard, 
"  with  juvenile  delinquency,  there  is  a  subject  which  the  Board 
beg  leave  to  lay  before  the  public  and  our  civil  authorities, 
which,  if  acted  upon,  they  are  confident  would  greatly  reform 
and  prevent  the  increase  of  young  offenders  :  it  is  the  project  of  a 
House  of  Refuge  for  young  delinquents  when  discharged  from 
prison."  (Mr.  Gerard,  it  will  be  seen,  had  not  considered  the 
still  more  important  office  which  the  Refuge  was  to  render  to  the 
young  in  anticipating  a  criminal  life,  and  offering  them  a  shelter 
and  training  before  they  had  entered  the  walls  of  a  prison.  His 
suggestions,  which  follow,  are  still  applicable  and  full  of  signifi 
cance.)  u  Our  penitentiaries  are  now  thronged  with  young  men 
and  women  over  sixteen,  but  under  twenty-five  ;  "  (and  his  re 
marks,  after  nearly  half  a  century,  are  strikingly  pertinent  to  their 
case  at  the  present  time.  To  meet  this  exigency  should  be  one  of 
the  first  movements  of  philanthropic  men  in  our  land  :)  "  Let 


THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  REFORMATION,  ETC.  51 

Hopeless  Condition  of  one  discharged  from  Prison. 

us  for  a  moment  dwell  upon  the  condition  and  feelings  of  a  youth 
when  he  is  let  loose  from  prison  upon  the  termination  of  his 
punishment.  How  hopeless  and  helpless  is  his  case  ;  without 
money,  without  friends,  without  the  means  of  gaining  his  bread, 
even  with  the  sweat  of  his  face,  and  above  all  without  character  ! 
No  hand  is  extended  to  guide  him  on  his  way  ;  no  tongue  speaks 
to  him  the  voice  of  comfort ;  no  smile  of  welcome  lights  up  the 
face  of  friendship.  All  who  know  him  shun  him.  He  bears 
the  mark  of  Cain  upon  him  ;  all  hands  bid  him  depart,  all  doors 
are  closed  against  him.  He  feels  as  if  the  world  were  a  desert, 
and  he  alone  in  it ;  as  if  the  prison  he  left  contained  all  his 
friends  and  all  his  ties,  and  as  if  its  gate,  when  it  closed  upon 
him,  shut  him  out  from  a  home.  Thus  viewing  the  world,  and 
thus  viewed  by  the  world,  can  he  repent  and  reform  ?  ]STo  oppor 
tunity  is  given  him  to  do  so.  He  is  driven  to  seek  the  haunts 
of  lawless  men,  for  such  alone  will  receive  him  ;  he  is  compelled 
to  theft  and  robbery,  because  he  cannot  starve.  He  is  sought 
after  and  tempted  by  old  offenders  who  are  always  on  the  watch 
for  young  proselytes  to  join  them  in  their  depredations  upon 
society ;  and  he  is  again  convicted  and  punished,  and  again  let 
loose  upon  the  world,  riper  in  years  and  iniquity.  This  is  no 
picture  of  the  fancy,  no  story  of  exaggeration  ;  it  is  the  history 
of  hundreds  of  our  youth  who  are  annually  discharged  from  our 
prisons,  and  again  and  again  committed  to  them.*  Ask  our 

*  While  these  pages  are  being  written,  a  fine-looking  young  man  calls  at 
the  door.  He  was  discharged  the  day  before  from  the  penitentiary.  He 
had  heard  the  writer  preach  to  the  prisoners.  His  home  is  in  England.  He 
was  a  finished  book-keeper,  and  had  been  a  clerk  in  a  book-store ;  but,  upon 
the  failure  of  the  firm  that  employed  him,  he  found  a  position  on  board  the 
Hamburg  line  of  steamers.  While  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  in  a  sailor 
boarding-house  in  our  city,  he  committed  the  offence  (far  from  being  a  serious 


52        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Number  of  Young  Criminals.— Economy  of  a  Kefuge. 

officers  of  justice  and  judges,  and  they  will  tell  you  that  the 
statement  is  true.  They  will  tell  you  that  the  faces  of  young 
offenders  grow  familiar  to  them  from  the  frequency  of  their  con 
viction,  and  that  they  do  not  know  what  to  do  with  them,  as  im 
prisonment  works  no  repentance.  We  have  official  information 
that  between  one  and  two  hundred  young  persons,  from  the  age 
of  seven  to  fourteen  years,  are  annually  brought  before  the  police 
on  charges  involving  various  degrees  of  crime  ;  and  it  is  the 
opinion  of  our  magistrates  that  all  between  those  ages  can,  by 
proper  means,  be  reformed  and  made  useful  members  of  society. 
...  To  support  a  House  of  Refuge  would  require  funds  to 
procure  a  suitable  building  where  the  children  could  receive 
moral  and  religious  instruction,  and  be  taught  some  of  the  more' 
simple  mechanic  arts.  The  greater  part  of  the  young  convicts 
are  the  children  of  poor  and  abandoned  parents,  and  commence 
their  career  by  street-begging  and  petty  pilfering.  Those  who 
preferred  it,  and  these  doubtless  would  be  many,  when  their 
minds  were  properly  wrought  upon,  their  character  changed,  and 
the  seeds  of  virtuous  principles  had  taken  root,  might  be  bound 

one)  which  sent  him  to  prison.  When  he  called,  lie  had  not  eaten  since  his 
discharge,  and,  for  want  of  other  shelter,  slept  in  a  station-house.  He 
offered  himself  as  store-keeper  on  board  a  steamer,  and  his  examination  was 
entirely  satisfactory,  until,  frankly  and  truthfully  answering  the  questions 
asked  him,  he  told  the  person  inquiring,  that  he  had  just  come  from  the 
penitentiary.  This  closed  the  engagement  at  once.  Now  what  shall  this 
man  do  ?  Does  the  community  propose  to  starve  him  in  addition  to  incar 
cerating  him  ?  Two  accomplished  pickpockets  were  discharged  at  the  same 
time ;  being  Englishmen  also,  they  offered  to  take  him  into  company,  and  to 
guarantee  him  a  good  living.  They  had  confederates  and  comfortable  quar 
ters  awaiting  them.  How  unwise  and  uneconomical  to  force  a  man  under 
such  circumstances  upon  so  serious  a  temptation  !  One  of  these  young  men 
was  thirty-five  years  of  age.  He  had  practised  his  profession  for  eighteen 
years  ;  seven  of  these  years  he  had  spent  in  prison.  What  a  heavy  tax  upon 
individuals  and  upon  the  whole  community  he  had  laid  in  this  time  ! 


THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  REFORMATION,  ETC.  53 

A  Proper  Claim  upon  the  Public  Funds.— Effect  of  Report. 

out  in  the  country  to  farmers,  or  sent  to  sea  as  apprentices  to 
masters  of  vessels.  The  offender  now  feels  that  he  has  regained 
his  character,  he  hopes  the  world  has  forgiven  him  and  per 
haps  forgotten  his  offence,  and  he  feels  himself  to  be  once  more 
a  part  of  society.  If  but  one  out  of  ten  could  by  such  an  estab 
lishment  be  saved  from  ruin,  it  would  repay  all  the  efforts  of  its 
founding  and  of  maintaining  it.  It  should  be  supported  by  sub 
scribers  and  contributors,  and  placed  under  the  direction  of 
benevolent  and  competent  men,  many  of  whom  our  city  can 
boast,  who  would  gladly  undertake  it.  The  Legislature,  con 
vinced  of  its  utility  and  economy  to  the  public  treasury  in  sav 
ing  them  the  support  of  many  convicts,  would  doubtless  patron 
ize  it  by  ample  contributions." 

All  these  moderate  expectations  have  been  abundantly 
realized  in  the  history  of  the  House.  The  report  was  well 
received,  and  was  ably  supported  in  eloquent  addresses  by 
Hiram  Ketchum,  Thomas  Fessenden,  and  Theodore  Sedgwick. 
Esqs.  The  latter  gentleman  related  in  his  speech  a  touching 
incident  of  a  child  who  had  that  day  been  detected  in  stealing, 
who  was  but  four  years  of  age.  The  editorial  columns  of 
Colonel  Stone's  paper  (who  was  greatly  interested  afterward  in 
the  Refuge,  and  was  for  fourteen  years  a  manager),  the  Com 
mercial  Advertiser,  for  the  three  succeeding  days,  were  devoted 
to  the  report  and  sketches  of  the  addresses  delivered  upon  the 
occasion.  The  report  itself  was  afterward  published  in  a 
pamphlet  form,  and  widely  circulated. 

Thus  far  the  Society  had  simply  modified  the  offensive  name 
of  the  place  of  confinement  for  young  offenders,  from  a  prison, 
with  all  its  offensive  and  disgraceful  associations,  to  a  House  of 
Refuge ;  it  was  still  to  be  a  refuge  to  those  that  had  been  in 


54        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Committee  to  prepare  a  Plan  for  a  House  of  Eefuge. 

prison,  or  a  separate  place  of  confinement  for  young  criminals. 
Individuals,  indeed,  had  suggested  the  preventive  work  to  be  per 
formed,  as  in  the  instance  of  Mr.  Eddy.  The  next  and  final 
stage  was  to  entirely  divest  the  Refuge  of  its  penitentiary  asso 
ciations,  and  to  permit  magistrates  to  send  into  its  sheltering 
and  nurturing  folds  the  vagrant  and  perilled  children  of  the 
streets — thus,  in'a  degree,  anticipating  the  corrupting  influences 
of  early  evil  associations. 

On  the  12th  of  June,  1823',  at  a  meeting  of  the  managers  of 
the  Society,  upon  the  motion  of  Isaac  Collins,  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  prepare  a  detailed  plan  for  a  House  of  Refuge. 
Prof.  Griscom  presided  at  this  meeting,  and  was  added  to  the 
committee  and  made  its  chairman.  The  following  gentlemen 
were  associated  with  him :  Isaac  Collins,  Cornelius  Dubois, 
James  "W.  Gerard,  Hiram  Ketchum,  and  Eleazer  Lord. 

The  admirable  report,  that  embodied  the  whole  idea  of  the 
House  of  Refuge,  and  formed  the  foundation  upon  which  the 
institution  has  rested  for  its  first  half  century,  was  written  by  the 
chairman,  who  remained,  from  its  establishment  until  he  removed 
from  the  city,  one  of  its  most  active  and  respected  managers. 
When,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years,  after  a  life  of  great  use 
fulness,  in  the  enjoyment  of  an  enviable  reputation,  and  in  the 
peace  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  respected  and  beloved,  he  "  fell 
asleep,"  the  managers  of  the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of 
Juvenile  Delinquents  thus  recorded  their  appreciation  of  his  ser 
vices  in  the  founding  of  their  institution,  in  their  twenty-eighth 
annual  report :  ';  His  name,"  they  say,  "•  may  deservedly  take  rank 
among  the  foremost  of  those  enlightened  philanthropists  to  whom 
society  is  indebted  for  the  plan  of  the  House  of  Refuge.  The  dis 
cipline  and  working  of  reformatory  institutions  had  long  occupied 


THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  REFORMATION,  ETC.  55 

Dr.  Griscom's  Report.— Character  of  Street  Children. 

his  attention,  and  he  had  obtained,  by  extensive  inquiries  and  ob 
servation,  especially  during  his  travels  in  Europe,  much  valuable 
information  upon  the  subject.  The  experience  he  had  thus 
acquired  caused  him  to  be  selected  as  chairman  of  that  commit 
tee  of  the  old  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Pauperism,  whose 
admirable  report  developed  the  plan  of  the  House  of  Refuge, 
and  led  to  its  establishment.  Dr.  Griscom  was  the  author  of 
several  of  the  earliest  annual  reports  of  the  society,  was  one 
of  its  first  vice-presidents,  and  continued  his  active  services  in 
that  position  till  his  removal  from  the  city  in  1832." 

In  his  report  he  took  the  ground  that  "  the  children  of  neg- 
leetful,  intemperate,  vicious  parents,  and  those  who  are  trained 
to  sin,  should  be  saved  from  prison  even  though  they  may  have 
been  guilty  of  actual  crime."  He  says  :  "  Every  person  that 
frequents  the  out-streets  of  this  city,  must  be  forcibly  struck 
with  the  ragged  and  uncleanly  appearance,  the  vile  language,  and 
the  idle  and  miserable  habits  of  great  numbers  of  children,  most 
of  whom  are  of  an  age  suitable  for  schools,  or  for  some  useful 
employment.  The  parents  of  these  children  are,  in  all  probabil 
ity,  too  poor  or  too  degenerate  to  provide  them  with  clothing  fit 
for  them  to  be  seen  in  a  school,  and  know  not  where  to  place 
them  in  order  that  they  may  find  employment,  or  be  better  cared 
for.  Accustomed,  in  many  instances,  to  witness  at  home  noth 
ing  in  the  way  of  example  but  what  is  degrading  ;  early  taught 
to  observe  intemperance,  and  to  hear  obscene  and  profane  lan 
guage  without  disgust ;  obliged  to  beg.  and  even  encouraged  to 
acts  of  dishonesty,  to  satisfy  the  wants  induced  by  the  indolence 
of  their  parents, — what  can  be  expected  but  that  such  children 
will,  in  due  time,  become  responsible  to  the  law  for  crimes  which 
have  thus  in  a  manner  been  forced  upon  them  ?  Can  it  be  con- 


56        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

These  Children  have  Claims  upon  Society  for  Protection. 

sistent  with  real  justice  that  delinquents  of  this  character  should 
be  consigned  to  the  infamy  and  severity  of  punishment,  which 
must  inevitably  tend  to  perfect  the  work  of  degradation,  to  sink 
them  still  deeper  in  corruption,  to  deprive  them  of  their  remain 
ing  sensibility  to  the  shame  of  exposure,  and  establish  them  in 
all  the  hardihood  of  daring  and  desperate  villany?  Is  it  possi 
ble  that  a  Christian  community  can  lend  its  sanction  to  such  a 
process  without  any  effort  to  rescue  and  to  save  ?  If  the  agents 
of  our  municipal  government  stand  toward  the  community  in 
the  moral  light  of  guardians  of  virtue  ;  if  they  may  be  justly 
regarded  as  the  political  fathers  of  the  unprotected,  does  not 
every  feeling  of  justice  urge  upon  them  the  principle  of  consider 
ing  these  juvenile  culprits  as  falling  under  their  special  guardian 
ship,  and  claiming  from  them  the  right  which  every  child  may 
demand  of  its  parent,  of  being  well  instructed  in  the  nature  of 
its  duties  before  it  is  punished  for  the  breach  of  their  observ 
ance?  Ought  not  every  citizen,  who  has  a  just  sense  of  the 
reciprocal  obligations  of  parents  and  children,  to  lend  his  aid  to 
the  administrators  of  the  law,  in  rescuing  these  pitiable  victims 
of  neglect  and  wretchedness  from  the  melancholy  fate  which 
almost  inevitably  results  from  an  apprenticeship  in  our  common 
prisons  ?  " 

The  report  introduces  extended  statistics  of  the  criminal 
juvenile  population  of  the  city,  gathered  from  the  records  of  the 
district  attorney,  Hugh  Maxwell,  Esq.,  and  from  the  keepers  of 
the  Bridewell  and  Bellevue  Prison.  "  From  the  exposition  thus 
given,"  the  report  goes  on  to  state,  "  of  the  subjects  referred  to 
their  consideration,  the  committee  cannot  but  indulge  the  belief 
that  the  inference  which  will  be  drawn  by  every  citizen  of  New 
York,  from  the  facts  now  laid  before  him,  will  be  in  perfect 


THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  REFORMATION,  ETC.  57 

House  of  Refuge  for  Juvenile  Delinquents. 

accordance  with  their  own — that  it  is  highly  expedient  that  a 
HOUSE  OF  REFUGE  FOR  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS  should,  as  soon 
as  practicable,  be  established  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  this 
,city." 

Of  the  character  of  the  House  the  report  remarks :  "  The 
design  of  the  proposed  institution  is  to  furnish,  in  the  first  place, 
an  asylum,  in  which  boys  under  a  certain  age  who  become 
subject  to  the  notice  of  our  police,  either  as  vagrants,  or  house 
less,  or  charged  with  petty  crimes,  may  be  received,  judiciously 
classed  according  to  their  degrees  of  depravity  or  innocence,  put 
to  work  at  such  employments  as  will  tend  to  encourage  industry 
and  ingenuity,  taught  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  and  most 
carefully  instructed  in  the  nature  of  their  moral  and  religious 
obligations,  while,  at  the  same  time,  they  are  subjected  to  a 
course  of  treatment,  that  will  afford  a  prompt  and  energetic 
corrective  of  their  vicious  propensities,  and  hold  out  every 
inducement  to  reformation  and  good  conduct  .  .  .  Such  an  insti 
tution  would  in  time  exhibit  scarcely  any  other  than  the  charac 
ter  of  a  decent  school  and  manufactory.  It  need  not  be  invested 
with  the  insignia  of  a  prison  ;  it  should  be  surrounded  only  with 
a  high  fence,  like  many  factories  in  the  neighborhood  of  cities, 
and  carefully  closed  in  front. 

Secondly,  the  committee  have  no  doubt  that,  were  such  an 
institution  once  well  established  and  put  under  good  regulations, 
the  magistrates  would  very  often  deem  it  expedient  to  place 
offenders  in  the  hands  of  its  managers,  rather  than  to  sentence 
them  to  the  City  Penitentiary.  The  gradations  of  crime  are 
almost  infinite  ;  and  so  minute  are  the  shades  of  guilt,  so  remote 
or  so  intimate  the  connection  between  legal  criminality  and 
previous  character,  that  it  would  often  be  judged  reasonable 


58        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Five  Classes  of  Subjects  for  House  of  Refuge. 

to  use  all  the  discretion  which  the  law  would  possibly  admit  in 
deciding  upon  the  offence  and  the  destination  of  juvenile  delin 
quents  ;  and  every  principle  of  justice  and  mercy  would  point, 
in  numerous  cases  of  conviction  for  crime,  to  such  a  refuge 
and  reformatory,  rather  than  to  the  Bridewell  or  City  Prison. 

u  A  third  class,  which  it  might  be  very  proper  to  transplant 
to  such  an  establishment,  and  to  distribute  through  its  better 
divisions,  are  boys,  some  of  whom  are  of  tender  age,  whose 
parents,  either  from  vice  or  indolence,  are  careless  of  their 
minds  and  morals,  and  leave  them  exposed  in  rags  and  filth  to 
miserable  and  scanty  fare,  destitute  of  education,  and  liable  to 
become  the  prey  of  criminal  associates." 

For  a  fourth  class,  Dr.  Griscom  introduces  those  young 
persons,  often  alluded  to  before,  for  whom,  as  yet,  the  com 
munity  has  made  no  provision,  and  who  have  never  been 
transferred  to  the  House  of  Refuge;  "youthful  convicts,  who, 
on  their  discharge  from  prison,  at  the  expiration  of  their  sen 
tence,  finding  themselves  without  character,  without  subsistence, 
and  ignorant  of  the  means  by  which  it  is  to  be  sought,  have  no 
alternative  but  to  beg  or  steal." 

The  last'  class  which  he  mentions  is  that  of  "  delinquent 
females,  who  are  either  too  young  to  have  acquired  habits  of 
fixed  depravity,  or  those  whose  lives  have  in  general  been 
virtuous,  but  who,  having  yielded  to  the  seductive  influences  of 
corrupt  associates,  have  suddenly  to  endure  the  bitterness  of  lost 
reputation,  and  are  cast  forlorn  and  destitute  upon  a  cold  and 
unfeeling  public,  full  of  compunctions  for  their  errors,  and 
anxious  to  be  restored  to  the  paths  of  innocence  and  usefulness. 
That  there  are  many  females  of  tender  age  just  in  those  pre 
dicaments  in  this  city,  none  can  doubt  who  surveys  the  list  of 


THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  REFORMATION,  ETC.  59 

A  Refuge  for  Females.— Classification. 

last  year's  culprits,  furnished  by  the  district  attorney."  Guard 
ing  with  great  wisdom  against  receiving  those  too  mature  in 
age  and  crime,  he  remarks  :  within  such  limits,  "  it  is  our  de 
cided  opinion — an  opinion  founded  not  only  upon  the  reason 
ableness  of  the  proposition,  but  upon  the  result  of  similar 
institutions  in  Europe — that  destitute  females  might  form  one 
department  of  the  establishment,  and  with  advantage  to  the 
institution.  Occupying  apartments  entirely  distinct  from  those 
of  the  other  sex,  and  separated  from  them  by  impassable 
barriers,  the  females  might  contribute,  by  their  labor,  to  pro 
mote  the  interests  of  the  establishment,  and  at  the  same  time 
derive  from  it  their  full  and  appropriate  share  of  benefit." 

Upon  the  expediency  of  thus  uniting  the  two  sexes  in  the 
same  institution  we  shall  speak  hereafter,  and  give  the  matured 
judgment  of  those  that  have  watched  the  experiment  of  half  a 
century,  and  observed  and  read  what  has  been  done  and  said  by 
others. 

Prof.  Griscom  enters  into  full  details  in  reference  to  the 
importance  of  classification,  based  upon  character  and  desig 
nated  by  some  badge,  open  to  the  free  competition  of  all  the 
inmates  ;  thus  inspiring  self-respect  and  a  wholesome  ambition. 
He  treats,  also,  with  remarkable  judgment,  the  various  questions 
relating  to  food,  hours  of  labor  and  recreation,  and  the  more 
difficult  one  of  moral  and  corporal  punishment.  He  proposes 
the  plan  which  was  realized  in  the  establishment  of  the  Refuge, 
of  associating  with  the  managers  a  supervisory  committee  of 
ladies,  by  whose  "  discretion,  tenderness,  and  fidelity,"  the 
interests  of  the  department  for  girls  should  be  judiciously 
considered. 

"  The  introduction  of  labor,"  he  remarks,  with  prophetic 


60        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

An  Appeal  to  Christian  Benevolence. 

wisdom,  u  would  constitute  an  important  feature  in  the  concern, 
not  only  as  a  means  of  diminishing  its  expense  and  promoting 
its  moral  influence,  but  in  order  to  supply  its  subjects  with  that 
instruction  and  with  those  habits,  which  would  enable  them, 
on  leaving  the  House,  to  procure  a  decent  and  honest  live 
lihood." 

We  reluctantly  abridge  the  valuable  practical  suggestions 
of  this  extended  report,  as  they  are  as  instructive  at  the  present 
hour  as  when  first  read,  forty-four  years  ago.  The  paper  con 
cludes  with  such  stirring  appeals  as  these  :  "  Your  committee 
can  but  cherish  the  lively  expectation  that,  when  the  public 
mind  comes  to  be  impressed  with  the  nature  and  importance  of 
these  various  considerations,  there  will  be  but  one  opinion  of 
the  necessity  and  expediency  of  providing  a  place  in  this  city 
which  shall  serve  as  a  real  penitentiary  to  the  younger  class  of 
offenders,  and  as  a  refuge  for  the  forlorn  and  destitute,  who  are 
on  the  confines  of  gross  criminality.  ...  If  the  actual  situ 
ation  of  these  several  classes  of  criminal  and  destitute  beings  in 
this  city  does  not  open  a  door  for  Christian  benevolence,  as 
inviting  in  its  promises  of  good  as  any  of  the  various  kinds  of 
charity,  either  at  home  or  abroad,  which  claim  the  attention  of 
our  citizens,  your  committee  think  they  might  in  vain  seek  to 
explore  the  miseries  of  their  fellow-creatures,  with  the  hope  of 
exciting  the  feelings  of  commiseration,  and  the  energies  of 
active  and  unwearied  humanity.  Can  it  be  right  that  we 
should  extend  our  views  to  the  wants  of  those  who  are  thou 
sands  of  miles  from  us,  and  close  our  eyes  upon  the  condition 
of  the  worse  than  heathen  that  wander  in  our  streets  ?  Shall 
our  hands  be  opened  with  distinguished  liberality  to  the  means 
of  civilizing  and  reforming  whole  nations  in  the  remotest  quar- 


THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  REFORMATION,  ETC.  61 

Meeting  at  the  New  York  Hospital.— Speech  of  Mr.  Maxwell. 

ters  of  the  globe,  and  closed  to  the  obvious  necessities  of  the 
outcasts  of  our  own  society  ?  Your  committee  mean  no  reflection 
whatever  on  the  schemes  so  actively  prosecuted  of  doing  good 
in  distant  parts  of  the  earth ;  but  surely  if  this  we  ought  to  do, 
the  other  we  ought  not  to  leave  undone." 

This  report  was  first  read  and  sanctioned  by  a  large  private 
gathering  held  at  the  New-York  Hospital ;  and  on  the  19th  of 
December,  1823,  a  very  large  meeting  was  convened  in  the 
assembly-room  of  the  City  Hotel,  Mayor  Golden  presiding  on  the 
occasion.  Before  this  audience,  including  the  most  substantial 
men  of  New  York,  the  report  was  again  read,  and  its  recom 
mendations  were  earnestly  supported  in  addresses  delivered  by 
Peter  A.  Jay,  Esq.,  Rev.  Dr.  "Wainwright,  Mr.  Joseph  P.  Simp 
son,  Hiram  Ketchum,  Esq.,  Prof.  McVicker,  James  W.  Gerard, 
Esq.,  Hugh  Maxwell,  Esq.,  arid  Mr.  Divie  Bethune. 

The  district  attorney,  Mr.  Maxwell,  in  his  speech,  replete 
with  moving  incidents  and  statistics,  drawn  from  his  personal 
experience  in  the  criminal  courts  of  the  city,  estimated  that  at 
least  two  hundred  young  persons  might  be  annually  snatched 
from  a  life  of  crime  by  such  an  institution — a  very  moderate 
limit,  in  view  of  the  actual  history  of  the  House  of  Refuge  since 
its  establishment.  It  has  sent  out  into  society  an  average  of 
three  hundred  every  year  during  its  existence,  and  the  lowest 
estimate  of  the  number  of  these  that  have  done  well  has  been 
seventy-five  per  cent. 

The  Commercial  Advertiser  of  the  24th  of  December,  of  this 
year,  has  a  very  full  and  interesting  account  of  this  meeting. 
Without  reporting  each  speaker,  it  embodies  the  chief  thoughts 
and  suggestions  of  all.  "  The  object  of  the  House  of  Refuge,"  it 
says,  after  vividly  portraying  the  previous  ruin  which  inevitably 


62        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

House  of  Refuge  in  Commercial  Advertiser.— Society  for  Reformation,  etc. 

befell  the  young  criminal  if  imprisoned  for  his  offence,  "is  to 
afford  to  young  offenders  an  asylum  where  they  will  be  received 
with  open  arms  and  friendly  hearts.  At  the  knock  of  the  poor, 
friendless,  homeless,  penitent  young  convict,  its  portal  will  be 
raised,  and  he  will  be  received  by  benevolent  men,  whose  duty 
and  whose  pleasure  it  will  be  to  instruct  and  reform  him.  His 
rags  will  be  taken  off ;  the  principles  of  virtue  and  religion  will 
be  instilled,  and  he  will  be  made,  as  far  as  possible,  to  forget 
that  he  has  ever  been  the  subject  for  a  prison. 

"  The  House  of  Refuge  will  resemble  a  large  school-house  and 
manufactory.  The  boys  will  be  taught  the  elements  of  a  prac 
tical  education ;  they  will  be  put  to  labor  at  simple  mechanic 
arts,  which  will  afford  them  afterward  the  means  of  support. 
When  their  minds  are  expanded  by  education,  and  good  prin 
ciples  are  elicited  and  confirmed,  they  will  then  leave  the 
Refuge  with  such  a  certificate  of  character  that  mechanics,  and 
farmers,  and  captains  of  vessels,  will  receive  them  into  their  em 
ploy,  and  they  will  become  useful  members  of  society." 

The  interesting  paper,  read  by  Prof.  Griscom,  met  with 
universal  acceptance  from  the  audience  ;  and  their  feelings  were 
so  aroused  by  the  addresses  of  the  eloquent  speakers,  that  the 
meeting  unanimously  resolved  that  such  an  institution  as  had 
been  described  should  be  at  once  established,  and  that  a  society 
should  be  formed  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents. 
Eight  hundred  dollars  toward  the  realization  of  the  plan  were 
subscribed  before  the  meeting  adjourned,  and  the  city  was  dis 
tricted  to  be  canvassed  for  further  donations.  Eighteen  thou 
sand  dollars  were  in  this  way  readily  secured  for  the  commence 
ment  of  the  enterprise. 

The  old  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Pauperism   having 


THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  REFORMATION,  ETC.  63 

Translation  of  Society  for  Prevention  of  Pauperism. 

accomplished  its  appointed  task,  was  "  translated,  that  it  should 
not  see  death,"  into  the  new  Institution  for  the  Reformation  of 
Juvenile  Delinquents,  and  entered  at  once  upon  the  practical 
realization  of  the  theories  that  had  long  been,  discussetl.  Dr. 
John  H.  Griscom  very  happily  remarks,  in  reference  to  this 
change  :  ';  Like  a  pebble  dropped  into  the  bosom  of  a  lake,  itself 
disappeared  from  sight,  but  the  ripple  which  it  created  will  con 
tinue  to  expand  until  it  shall  have  reached  the  utmost  verge  of 
time,  and  embraced  within  its  widening  and  humanizing  circle 
unnumbered  thousands  who  will  confess  its  happy  influence 
over  their  present  and  future  destinies." 

To  give  an  organic  form  to  the  movement,  twenty-five  man 
agers  were  nominated  and  appointed,  who  should  retain  their 
position  until  the  Society,  constituted  of  its  subscribers  and  life- 
members,  should  be  regularly  organized  under  an  act  of  incor 
poration  which  was  to  be  obtained  from  the  State  Legislature.* 
Of  this  committee,  Hugh  Maxwell  and  J.  W.  Gerard  are  the 
only  survivors.  '  Judge  Duer,  presiding  justice  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  New  York  City,  held  in  great  esteem  for  his  eminent 
judicial  abilities  as  well  as  for  the  dignity  and  impartiality  with 
which  he  discharged  the  duties  of  his  office,  died  in  1858.  His 
sound  judgment,  his  large  legal  experience,  and  his  benevolent 
sympathies,  rendered  him  a  valuable  counsellor  in  preparing  the 
organic  law  of  such  an  institution  as  the  House  of  Refuge. 


*  The  following  persons  were  elected  at  this  meeting  as  managers : 
C.  D.  Golden,  J.  Griscom,  J.  M.  Wainwright,  Alderman  Wyckoff,  Judge  J. 
T.  Irving,  an  honored  and  able  judge  of  the  Common  Pleas,  and  brother  of 
Washington  Irving,  C.  Dubois,  John  E.  Hyde,  Dr.  Ives,  J.  W.  Gerard,  Isaac 
Collins,  J.  Curtis,  Dr.  J.  Stearns,  R.  Olmstead,  J.  Grinnell,  R.  F.  Mott, 
Stephen  Allen,  Judge  John  Duer,  A.  Burtis,  John  Targee,  Thomas  Eddy, 
Samuel  Cowdrey,  and  Hugh  Maxwell. 


64       A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE   DELINQUENTS. 

Cornelius  Dubois.— Jonathan  Mayhew  Wainwright,  D.  D. 

Upon  all  these  committees  we  notice  the  name  of  Cornelius 
Dubois.  No  one  did  more  to  aid  in  raising  and  managing  the 
funds  which  were  requisite,  and  for  which  the  necessity  at  times 
became  pressing,  than  this  highly-respected  and  sturdy  merchant. 
He  took  a  lively  and  intelligent  interest  in  all  the  measures 
relating  to  the  establishment  of  the  House  of  Refuge.  In  the 
language  of  his  brother  managers,  recorded  in  the  twenty-second 
annual  report,  "  He  saw  the  great  evils  attending  the  disposi 
tion  of  our  j uvenile  criminals,  and  with  other  philanthropists  ob 
tained  the  act  incorporating  this  institution.  In  its  infancy, 
when  it  was  looked  upon  as  an  experiment,  and  depended  main 
ly  for  its  support  on  private  charity,  he  was  untiring  in  his  ex 
ertions  to  extend  its  means  of  usefulness,  and  place  it  beyond 
the  embarrassment  of  pecuniary  want.  For  eighteen  years  he 
filled  the  office  of  treasurer,  and  discharged  its  duties  with 
accuracy  and  untiring  industry  until  within  a  few  months  of  his 
decease." 

No  name  during  his  able  ministry  in  this  city  was  more 
familiar  to,  or  respected  among,  its  citizens  than  that  of  Jonathan 
Mayhew  Wainwright,  who,  when  he  died,  had  been  for  about 
two  years  provisional  bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  diocese  of  New  York.  His  graceful  and  impressive  elo 
quence,  the  influence  of  his  high  social  position,  and  his  active 
sympathies,  were  generously  proffered  to  the  Society  in  its  birth. 
He  was  one  of  its  incorporated  managers,  and  remained  for 
some  time  upon  its  Board. 

April  7,  1826,  Robert  F.  Mott,  a  well-known  and  wealthy 
citizen,  a  highly-respected  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  an 
intelligent  and  earnest  laborer  in  every  work  of  charity  and 
reform,  especially  interested  in  the  public  schools,  wrote  to  the 


THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  REFORMATION,  ETC.  65 

Eobert  F.  Mott.— Call  for  Contributions. 

president  of  the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delin 
quents  :  "  I  find  myself  obliged  by  continual  ill-health  and  a 
prospect  of  leaving  the  city  for  some  time,  to  tender  my  resig 
nation  as  a  member  of  your  Board.  As  I  have  never  served 
any  institution  with  greater  pleasure,  so  I  have  never  left  one 
with  greater  regret."  Upon  his  death,  in  1826,  his  colleagues, 
with  much  feeling,  bear  their  testimony  to  his  great  worth  and 
probity  of  character.  "  To  those  who  knew  him  well,"  they 
say,  "  little  need  be  said  in  favor  of  his  worth.  He  was  the 
friend  of  the  friendless,  and  the  advocate  of  the  poor.  Unob 
trusive  in  his  manners,  yet  steady  in  his  purpose,  nothing  could 
swerve  him  from  the  path  of  duty,  or  divert  him  from  the  main 
object  of  his  life,  which  was  the  good  and  welfare  of  his  fellow- 
creatures.  He  has  early  finished  his  course  of  rectitude,  and 
has  left  for  the  approval  and  imitation  of  others  a  bright  exam 
ple  of  active  and  disinterested  worth." 

The  temporary  board  of  managers  made  an  earnest  appeal 
to  the  public,  which  appeared  in  the  issue  of  the  Commercial 
Advertiser,  February  26,  1824,  stating  clearly  the  object  pro 
posed  in  the  movement  for  the  salvation  of  young  offenders. 
They  append  their  names  to  this  call  upon  the  charity  of  the  com 
munity,  with  their  places  of  residence,  to  which  contributions 
could  be  sent.  It  is  an  interesting  local  fact,  showing  the  growth 
of  the  city,  that  at  the  time  only  one  of  their  number  lived  as 
far  up  as  Grand  Street ;  this  was  Dr.  Griscom,  who  had  just 
removed  from  William  Street  to  the  corner  of  Elm  and  Grand. 

"  We  are  aware,"  they  say,  "  of  the  responsibility  we  as 
sume.  We  anticipate  the  difficulties  of  an  untried  path.  We 
are  sensible  of  the  time  and  attention  it  will  require  at  our 

hands,  and  of  the  discretion  that  will  be  requisite  in  every  stage 
5 


66        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Act  of  Incorporation.— No  Compensation  to  Managers. 

of  its  operation.  But  all  we  want,  as  an  encouragement  to  per 
severance,  is  the  promptitude  and  efficiency  of  your  cooperation. 
Even  at  a  time  when  so  much  feeling  has  been  excited  and 
liberality  manifested  on  behalf  of  the  grievances  and  sufferings 
of  a  far-distant  nation  (the  Greeks) ,  we  hesitate  not  to  prefer 
our  claims  upon  the  charities  of  the  bountiful  arid  the  sym 
pathies  of  the  benevolent,  in  favor  of  the  wretched  of  our  im 
mediate  borders.  .  .  .  We  are  fully  persuaded  of  the  practi 
cability  of  the  scheme  we  have  undertaken,  and  of  its  truly 
beneficial  tendency." 

On  the  29th  of  March,  1824,  an  act  of  incorporation  was 
secured  from  the  Legislature,  then  assembled  in  Albany.  This 
act,  and  all  the  subsequent  legislation  in  behalf  of  the  insti 
tution,  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix  to  this  volume.  With  all 
the  changes  and  additions  that  have  taken  place  since  that  day, 
the  closing  sentence  of  the  second  section  has  remained  un 
altered  :  "  And  it  is  hereby  further  enacted.  That  no  manager  of 
the  said  Society  shall  receive  any  compensation  for  his  services." 
A  half  century  of  constant  and  efficient  labors,  sometimes  very 
exacting  and  perplexing,  have  thus  been  yielded  by  the  best 
citizens  of  the  city  and  State,  without  any  further  recompense 
than  that  which  comes  from  above,  and  the  realization  of  that 
truth  of  our  Lord  that  it  is  "  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  re 
ceive." 

In  making  the  twelfth  annual  report,  the  writer  remarks : 
"  They  "  (the  managers)  "  have  no  pecuniary  interest  in  the  insti 
tution — no  end  to  gratify  but  humanity.  Their  time  and  talents 
are  voluntarily  and  cheerfully  devoted  to  this  cause,  and  if.  they 
have  any  regret  it  is  that  all  their  fellow-citizens  who  are  qualified 
do  not  inquire  into  the  merits  of  the  institution,  and  do  what  they 


THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  REFORMATION,  ETC.  67 

Summary  of  Powers  intrusted  to  Managers. 

can  to  increase  its  usefulness.  They  are  still  of  the  opinion, 
heretofore  frequently  expressed,  that  this  voluntary  manage 
ment,  prompted  solely  by  feelings  of  philanthropy,  is  the  best 
mode  of  governing  the  institution,  and  that  its  utility  would  be 
seriously  impaired  if  any  different  course  were  to  be  pursued. 
So  wrell  satisfied  are  they  on  this  point,  that  they  earnestly  de 
sire  to  see  the  multiplication  of  similar  establishments  not  only 
in  this  country  but  in  Europe.  If  all  the  juvenile  delinquents 
here  and  elsewhere  could  be  introduced  into  Houses  of  Refuge, 
and  enjoy  the  advantages  of  a  moral  and  religious  education, 
there  would  soon  be  much  fewer  candidates  for  the  prison  and 
the  gallows ! " 

A  very  good  summary  of  the  most  important  powers  of  the 
managers,  as  bestowed  in  their  several  acts  of  incorporation,  is 
embodied  in  the  fifth  annual  report  which  they  made  to  the 
Legislature.  "The  Legislature,"  says  this  report,  "has  very 
much  enlarged  the  objects  of  our  institution  and  intrusted  to  its 
managers  powers  that  have  not  heretofore  been  delegated. 
These  are  essential  to  its  beneficent  action,  and  mark  the  great 
difference  between  it  and  other  similar  institutions  that  previous 
ly  existed,  however  similar  they  may  be  in  name.  If  a  child  be 
found  destitute  ;  if  abandoned  by  its  parents,  or  suffered  to  lead 
a  vicious  or  vagrant  life  ;  or  if  convicted  of  any  crime,  it  may 
be  sent  to  the  House  of  Refuge.  There  is  in  no  case  any  other 
sentence  than  that  it  shall  '  there  be  dealt  with  according  to  law.' 
That  is,  it  may,  if  not  released  by  some  legal  process,  be  there 
detained,  if  the  managers  should  think  it  unfit  to  be  sooner  dis 
charged,  until  it  arrives  at  age.  Parents  or  guardians,  from  the 
time  it  is  legally  sentenced  to  the  Refuge,  lose  all  control  of  its 
person.  When  it  is  believed  that  a  child  is  reformed,  the  man- 


68         A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

These  Powers  tested  before  the  Courts. 

agers  have  power,  with  its  consent,  to  bind  it  as  an  apprentice, 
till  the  age  of  eighteen  years  "  (now  twenty-one),  u  if  a  female  ; 
and  if  a  boy,  till  the  age  of  twenty-one.  It  is  these  important 
features  that  mark  the  difference  between  our  institution  and-  all 
others  that  previously  existed ;  and  it  is  in  this  sense  that  we 
may  say  with  truth  that  the  New- York  House  of  Refuge  was 
the  first  of  its  kind  ever  established." 

It  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  State  would  have  intrusted 
such  powers  into  the  hands  of  any  but  her  most  reliable  citizens  ; 
and  every  one  must  see  how  sacredly  such  powers  must  be 
guarded  and  governed  by  justice  and  righteousness  in  the  board 
of  management. 

These  powers  have  been  often  questioned  before  the  courts, 
ori  both  technical  and  constitutional  grounds,  but  the  decisions 
of  the  highest  tribunals  have  not  only  sustained  the  fundamental 
law  of  the  House,  but,  in  several  instances,  in  elaborate  opinions, 
have  set  forth  the  great  underlying  principles  justifying  the  be- 
stowment  upon  persons,  acting  in  loco  parentis,  of  these  extraor 
dinary  powers  for  the  sole  behoof  and  well-being  of  the  child. 
Several  of  these  decisions,  rendered  in  our  own  State,  in  Penn 
sylvania,  and  in  Maryland,  will  be  found  in  full  in  the  Ap 
pendix  to  this  volume. 

The  character  and  standing  in  society  of  the  gentlemen  who 
from  the  first  have  held  the  management  of  the  Refuge  have 
been  a  satisfactory  assurance  to  the  community  that  these  pow 
ers  would  be  conscientiously  exerted  ;  and  there  has  never  been, 
an  occasion  when  this  conviction  has  been  disturbed. 

Through  errors  in  the  commitments  of  the  courts,  the  Board 
has  seen  many  a  promising  child,  on  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  dis 
charged  to  certain  ruin,  through  either  the  weakness  or  wicked- 


THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  REFORMATION,  ETC.  69 

Interesting  Case  before  the  City  Recorder. 

ness  of  a  parent  or  guardian  ;  but  they  have  never  failed,  when- 
'  ever  a  child  has  been  discovered  to  have  a  decent  home  and 
respectable  parents,  and  has  shown  good  evidence  of  amend 
ment,  to  return  it  to  the  custody  of  its  own  friends. 

Our  judges  have  often  undoubtedly  suffered  as  keenly,  but 
have  probably  felt  themselves  unable  to  dismiss  a  writ  as  sum 
marily,  as  did  the  recorder  of  the  city  in  a  case  tried  before  him 
in  1829.  A  child,  ten  years  of  age,  was  committed  to  the  House. 
The  father  kept  a  house  of  bad  repute.  The  mother,  who  was 
shockingly  intemperate,  employed  the  child,  day  after  day,  in 
begging  victuals  and  old  clothes.  The  infamous  persons*  that 
frequented  her  father's  house  would  often  take  this  little  girl  with 
them,  entering  houses  on  the  pretence  of  begging,  and  using  the 
child  to  cover  their  thievish  practices.  "  When  she  entered  the 
House,"  says  the  superintendent,  "  she  was  as  black  and  dirty 
as  a  chimney-sweep  ;  her  muslin  was  the  color  of  the  earth,  it 
being  all  the  garment  of  the  kind  she  had."  When  she  was 
thoroughly  cleaned  and  clad  in  a  neat,  plain  dress,  she  attracted 
all  observers  by  her  interesting  appearance.  Her  parents,  en 
raged  at  the  loss  of  their  gains  through  her  begging  and  thiev 
ing,  brought  her  on  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  before  the  recorder. 
"The  judge  examined  the  case  with  much  attention,  interrogat 
ed  the  child,  discovered  that  she  preferred  the  Refuge  to  her 
father's  house,  seemed  pleased  with  her  clean  and  sweet  appear 
ance,  and  then  looked  with  disgust  at  the  dirty  heap  of  clothes 
in  which  she  had  come  to  the  Refuge  ;  suddenly  addressing  the 
lawyer,  i  Sir,'  said  he,  i  if  I  should  give  you  ,this  child,  my  con 
science  would  not  let  me  sleep  to-night ! '  " 


A  HALF  CEXTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 


Rev.  John  Stanford,  D.  D.—  Report  in  1812. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE     FIRST     HOUSE      OF     REFUGE. 

PERHAPS  the  earliest  suggestion,  as  to  the  place  that  afterward 
beca'me  the  site  of  the  first  House  of  the  Society,  was  made  by 
Rev.  John  Stanford,  D,  D.,  a  highly-respected  and  able  Baptist 
clergyman  of  the  city.  He  had  a  private  academy,  and  was 
also  the  pastor  of  a  church.  In  1811,  having  previously 
preached  in  the  almshouse,  he  was  appointed  by  the  city 
government  to  be  its  chaplain,  and  eventually  the  field  of  his 
labors  "  embraced  the  prisons,  hospitals,  and  charitable  asy 
lums  of  the  city."  * 

He  was  a  venerable  man  at  this  time,  over  seventy  years 
of  age.  In  an  extended  report,  very  interesting  and  thoughtful, 
rendered  to  the  city  government,  December  22,  1823,  and 
published  in  the  Commercial  Advertiser  of  the  17th  of  January, 
1824,  the  old  divine  calls  the  attention  of  the  authorities  of 
the  city  to  the  fact  that,  on  January  21,  1812,  he  had  pre 
sented  to  them,  in  a  report,  an  outline  of  a  plan  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  an  asylum  for  vagrant  youth,  "  with  its  promising 
advantages  to  prevent  pauperism  and  the  commission  of  crime." 
He  remarks,  that  since  his  duties  had  led  him  into  the  peni- 

*  "  American  Encyclopaedia." 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  71 

Plan  for  Naval  School,  first  in  the  Country. 

tentiary,  "  a  tenfold  weight  of  conviction  had  pressed  upon  him, 
of  the  importance  of  a  separate  place  for  the  reception  of 
vagrant  children."  His  plan,  as  drawn  out  in  his  report,  is  an 
almost  perfect  anticipation  of  the  organization  of  the  Juvenile 
Asylum.  He  suggested  also,  at  this  time,  in  connection  with 
the  House  of  Reform  upon  the  land,  what  might  be  called 
a  naval  department.  He  was  a  half  century  in  advance  of  his 
times  ;  but  when  a  reform  school-ship  rides  the  waves  of  New- 
York  harbor,  the  wisdom,  piety,  and  patriotism  of  old  Doctor 
John  Stanford  will  be  fully  justified.  His  plan  was  very  simple 
and  practicable.  He  proposed  to  have  navigation  taught  in  the 
asylum  upon  the  land,  and,  by  masts  and  rigging,  to  give  a 
general  idea  of  a  sailor's  duty.  A  small  vessel,  which  could 
be  used  from  time  to  time,  under  a  proper  sailing-master,  would 
give  the  boys  that  exhibited  a  predilection  for  the  sea  such  an 
opportunity  to  become  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  ordinary 
requisitions  upon  a  sailor  as  to  reader  them  capable  of  offering 
valuable  services  on  board  any  vessel  in  the  mercantile  marine 
or  United  States  service.  "  I  recommend,"  he  says,  "  that  the 
greatest  attention  be  paid  to  raise  boys  for  sea  service,  the 
advantages  of  which  will  be  found  to  be  of  the  highest  value. 
...  In  proportion  as  your  trade  and  commerce  increase,  you 
require  seamen  of  your  own  without  being  indebted  to  foreign 
ers,  and  the  institution  will  lend,  in  this  respect,  its  friendly  aid 
to  establish  your  independence  on  the  water.  The  youth  you 
have  rescued,  on  whom  you  have  bestowed  your  kindness,  will 
naturally  form  an  attachment  to  the  interests  of  the  country,  and 
nobly  contend  for  its  rights  and  its  honors." 

In  his  report,  he  proposes  to  the  city  council  that  the  United 
States  Arsenal  at  the  fork  of  the  Bloomingdale  and  Old  Post 


72        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

United  States  Arsenal  on  Bloomingdale  and  Old  Post  Roads. 

roads  should  be  obtained  and  set  apart  for  the  discipline  and 
training  of  neglected  and  exposed  children. 

In  conclusion,  he  adds :  "  Through  my  advanced  age,  I 
scarce  allow  myself  the  luxury  of  indulging  a  thought  that  I 
shall  be  permitted  to  live  to  see  such  an  asylum  in  operation. 
I  could  not  withhold  my  pen  from  presenting  you  this  paper 
upon  the  subject ;  and  if  at  present  it  may  not  be  found  useful, 
it  may  be  deposited  among  your  papers,  and  prove  of  some 
advantage  when  my  hand  can  write  no  more." 

His  last  suggestion,  however,  met  with  an  unexpectedly 
favorable  result,  and  he  was  permitted  to  take  a  conspicuous 
part  in  the  inauguration  of  a  refuge  for  abandoned  children, 
which  his  experience  in  the  penitentiaries  had  shown  to  be  such 
a  pressing  necessity,  on  the  site  of  his  own  nomination. 

The  managers  made  an  application  to  the  city  council  for  a 
grant  of  land  for  the  proposed  institution,  and  the  committee 
to  whom  the  request  was  referred  recommended  "  that  the  piece 
of  ground  lying  at  the  junction  of  the  Bloomingdale  and  Old 
Post  roads,  on  which  the  United  States  Arsenal  was  situated, 
which  Avas  granted  on  the  17th  of  November,  1807,  by  the  cor 
poration  to  the  General  Government,  upon  the  express  condition 
and  understanding  that  the  same  should  be  used  for  the  pur 
pose  of  an  arsenal  and  deposit  of  military  stores,  and  whenever 
it  should  cease  to  be  used  for  such  purposes  it  was  to  revert 
to  the  corporation,  should  be  conveyed  to  the  board  of  man 
agers  of  the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents, 
whenever  they  obtained  from  the  General  Government  a  convey 
ance  of  the  interest  they  had  in  the  ground."  In  addition  to 
this  they  proposed  to  convey  to  the  society  the  triangular  plot 
in  front,  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  roads.  They  cordially 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  73 

Sentiments  of  City  Council. — Of  the  General  Government. 

add :  "  That  they  feel  a  pleasure  in  expressing  their  approbation 
of  the  laudable  objects  which  the  society  has  in  view.  Perhaps," 
they  remark,  "  no  institution  is  more  desirable  in  our  city  than 
one  which  affords  a  place  of  refuge  for  neglected  and  depraved 
children,  just  entering  upon  the  paths  of  vice,  where  they  may 
be  reclaimed  from  their  bad  habits,  their  minds  instructed  in 
the  rudiments  of  learning,  and  their  time  devoted  to  some  useful 
employment.  The  committee  believe  that  such  an  institution, 
properly  regulated  and  conducted,  would  not  only  tend  to  im 
prove  the  condition  of  society  by  lessening  the  commission  of 
crime,  and  the  number  of  convicts  sent  to  our  prisons,  but 
would  have  a  tendency  to  diminish  the  expenses  of  the  city 
incurred  on  that  account." 

It  was  understood  that  the  General  Government  was  propos 
ing  to  change  the  site  of  its  arsenal,  as  its  distance  from  navi 
gable  water  rendered  it  inconvenient,  and  the  gradual  approach 
of  population  dangerous. 

The  memorial  of  the  society  to  the  Government  at  Wash 
ington,  seeking  for  the  release  of  these  grounds  and  buildings, 
met  with  great  favor.  Mr.  Calhoun,  then  Secretary  of  War, 
the  Tice-President,  and  Colonel  Bomford,  at  the  head  of  the 
Bureau  of  Ordnance,  cordially  received  and  favorably  considered 
the  application.  Colonel  Bomford  said  :  "  The  humane  objects 
contemplated  by  the  society  you  represent  merit  and  must 
receive  universal  approbation.  The  officers  of  the  Government 
are  disposed  to  aid  the  objects  of  the  Society  by  any  measure 
which  can  be  adopted,  consistently  with  a  due  regard  to  the 
public  interest."  Lieutenant  Monroe,  stationed  near  the  city, 
was  ordered  to  give  a  personal  consideration  to  the  matter,  and 
to  report  at  once.  The  result  was,  that  the  government  stores 


74       A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Arsenal  Grounds.— Appearance  of  the  Vicinity. 

were  removed  to  Castle  William,  and  the  large  barracks,  a 
house  suitable  for  the  superintendent  and  his  family,  outbuild 
ings  and  walls,  were  surrendered  to  the  Society  for  the  sum 
of  six  thousand  dollars,  four  thousand  of  which  was  after 
ward  remitted  to  the  Society,  upon  a  petition  drawn  up  by  Dr. 
Griscom,  and  presented  in  the  name  of  the  managers  to  Con 
gress. 

This  site,  containing  about  four  acres  of  land,  then  so  favor 
able  for  the  object  to  which  it  was  to  be  devoted,  was  about  a 
mile  from  the  habitable  portion  of  the  city,  and  two  miles  from 
the  City  Hall.  It  was  surrounded  by  cultivated  farms,  groves, 
open  and  rough  fields  blooming  in  their  season  with  wild  flowers, 
and  wearing  all  the  aspects  of  the  country  to  the  little  city 
Arabs  gathered  there  from  the  narrow  streets  of  the  town.  It 
is  now  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  forming  the  charming  park, 
known  as  Madison  Square,  lying  between  Twenty-third  and 
Twenty-sixth  Streets  and  the  Fifth  and  Madison  Avenues.  It 
was  then  considered  so  far  out  of  town,  that  a  lady  of  the  city 
recollects,  when  young,  being  invited  to  visit  the  institution ; 
the  day  was  devoted  to  the  object,  and  she  was  so  fatigued  by 
the  jaunt  that  she  was  sick  for  a  week,  as  the  consequence. 

Here,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1825,  in  the  old  soldiers' 
barracks,  occupied  during  the  War  of  1812-1815,  purified, 
refitted,  and  prepared  for  a  limited  number  of  inmates,  the  New- 
York  House  of  Refuge  was  opened  with  appropriate  and  im 
pressive  services. 

Money  and  influence  could  secure  an  available  site,  and 
arrange  and  furnish  comfortable  rooms,  but  the  whole  success 
of  this  most  difficult  and  delicate  experiment  would  turn,  in  a 
large  measure,  upon  securing,  in  the  superintendent,  qualities 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  75 

Joseph  Curtis. — State  Act  of  Manumission. 

that  gold  cannot  always  purchase.  The  first  one,  especially, 
had  quite  an  untrodden  path  to  explore. 

Among  the  officers  of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 
Pauperism  was  Mr.  Joseph  Curtis,  who  had  served  for  several 
years  as  its  secretary.  His  excellent  wife  was  a  member  of 
the  Society  of  Friends.  He  was  a  diligent,  intelligent  business 
man,  but  was  ruined,  with  many  others,  in  his  business  by  the 
war.  In  1820  he  became  the  superintendent  of  the  business 
of  James  P.  Allaire,  and  through  the  general  probity  of  his 
character,  and  the  confidence  he  had  won  from  the  business 
community,  he  obtained  for  this  great  mechanic  that  bank  credit 
which  was  alone  necessary  to  secure  for  his  brilliant  capabilities 
an  adequate  field  of  development. 

Mr.  Curtis  had  been  personally  active  in  all  the  public 
charities  of  the  day,  he  was  endowed  with  a  peculiarly  gener 
ous  and  unselfish  disposition,  and  was  especially  interested  in 
the  young  and  every  thing  that  related  to  their  happiness  or 
improvement.  He  had  been  particularly  prominent  in  securing 
the  State  act  of  manumission,  by  which  New  York  became  in 
the  widest  sense  a  free  State,  which  was  passed  in  1817  ;  hav 
ing  pressed  the  matter  upon  the  community,  in  connection  with 
Peter  A.  Jay,  Cadwallader  Golden,  Isaac  M.  Ely,  and  others, 
and  also  upon  the  Legislature,  for  a  period  of  eight  years. 

He  was  accustomed  to  refer  to  the  17th  day  of  February, 
1817,  "  when  he  froze  his  face  in  mounting  the  bleak  hill 
to  the  capitol,  at  Albany,  as  one  of  the  proudest  of  his  life. 
'  I  feel  I  have  not  quite  lived  in  vain,'  he  was  accustomed  to 
say,  '  when  I  consider  the  passage  of  the  Manumission  Act ;  the 
memory  of  it  will  smooth  my  dying  pillow.' "  *  A  pair  of  very 

*  "  Life  of  Joseph  Curtis,"  p.  59. 


76         A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Dr.  Bellows's  Estimate.— Attention  to  his  Helpless  Brother. 


handsome  silver  pitchers,  happily  inscribed  and  engraved,  were 
given  him  by  the  Society,  as  a  testimony  of  their  appreciation 
of  his  labors  in  its  behalf.  Dr.  Bellows,  in  the  funeral  sermon 
which  he  preached,  upon  the  decease  of  Mr.  Curtis,  well  re 
marks,  that  "  fifty  years  ago  the  ignorant,  the  weak  and  aban 
doned,  the  slave,  the  prisoner,  the  blind,  had  not  drawn  to 
themselves  the  attention  even  of  the  Christian ;  and  when  we 
are  estimating  the  claims  on  our  gratitude  of  the  founders  of  our 
public  schools,  the  projectors  of  asylums  and  houses  of  refuge, 
the  starters  of  emancipation,  we  are  not  to  forget  that  the  lamp 
of  their  charity  sprang  up  in  utter  darkness,  and  was  trimmed 
without  the  notice  of  men,  and  fed  by  none  of  the  sympathy  and 
admiration  of  society  at  large." 

An  affecting  illustration  of  the  genuine  kindness  of  his  heart 
was  the  beautiful  tenderness  with  which,  for  twenty-six  years, 
he  personally  undertook  the  care  of  an  imbecile  brother.  This 
care  he  never  delegated  to  a  servant.  u  His  dress  was  scrupu 
lously  attended  to,  and  his  person  cared  for  as  a  tender  mother 
cares  for  her  child.  The  poor  invalid  was  liable  to  sulkiness — 
to  fits  of  passion.  His  gentle  brother  and  his  eldest  daughter, 
and  they  alone,  could  manage  and  subdue  him.  As  he  grew 
older  he  lost  the  use  of  his  limbs,  and  for  two  years  prior  to  his 
death  was  confined  to  a  chair  on  wheels."  The  dying  words  of 
the  poor  imbecile  were,  "  Brother  Joseph."  And  the  response 
from  the  unfailing  affection  of  his  brother  was,  "  My  dear,  your 
mother  waits  for  you."  "  He  was  a  harmless  man,"  said  Mr. 
Curtis  gently  to  one  of  his  children,  as  he  looked  upon  his 
brother's  face  in  the  coffin,  "  he  has  filled  his  mission,  and  now, 
daughter,  my  work  is  finished."  And  so  indeed  it  proved,  for 
in  just  three  months  he  followed  him. 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  77 

His  Power  to  awaken  Affection.— His  Last  Gift  to  Refuge. 

This  was  the  spirit  of  the  man  whom  the  providence  of  God 
at  the  moment  seemed  to  indicate  as  the  fit  person  to  introduce 
the  novel  experiment  of  attempting  the  reform  of  young  delin- 
•  quents.  He  retained  the  position  but  little  more  than  a  year.  His 
was  simply  the  office  to  open  the  way  and  afford  a  worthy  lesson 
to  younger  successors.  While  inimitable  in  his  power  to  win  the 
affections  of  the  young,  and  overflowing  with  paternal  goodness 
toward  the  sad,  misguided  youths  sent  to  his  institution,  others 
might  excel  him  in  managing  the  multifarious  details  of  such 
an  establishment,  and  even  in  the  administration  of  discipline. 

One  might  be  surprised,  in  reading  the  records  of  the  first 
year  of  the  Refuge,  at  the  number  and  severity  of  the  punish 
ments  and  the  repeated  efforts  of  escape  and  acts  of  rebellion, 
such  as  never  occur  now,  with  the  census  at  one  thousand 
inmates,  when  so  mild  and  loving  a  man  was  at  its  head,  if  he 
had  not  learned  the  wonderful  effect  of  regular  employment, 
gentle  but  unvarying  discipline,  and  the  constant  inspiration  of 
a  positive  expectation  of  discharge  to  be  earned  by  good  be 
havior,  faithfulness,  diligence,  and  studiousness. 

Mr.  Curtis,  when  he  left  the  Refuge,  never  removed  his 
interest  from  it.  He  became  one  of  the  most  ardent  and  efficient 
friends  of  the  public-school  system  in  the  city.  For  years  he 
visited  the  institution  upon  Sabbath  afternoons,  to  address  the 
children.  One  of  his  last  requests  to  his  family  was  that  his 
portrait  might  be  sent  to  the  Refuge,  that  the  children  might 
continue  to  look  upon  the  face  of  him  who  never  spoke  of  them 
without  a  moistening  eye.  To  this  day  that  face,  hanging  upon 
the  wall  of  the  superintendent's  office,  glances  down  its  benign 
benediction  upon  every  new-comer  as  he  enters  the  institution, 
and  upon  the  discharged  child  as  he  receives  his  farewell  coun 
sels,  and  goes  out  again  into  a  life  of  temptation. 


78        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

First  Subjects.— Mr.  Maxwell's  Contrasts. 

On  this  first  day  of  January,  1825,  the  Board  of  Managers, 
with  several  members  of  the  Corporation,  and  with  quite  a  con 
course  of  citizens,  met  at  the  House  to  open  with  simple  services 
an  establishment,  the  full  results  of  which  for  good  no  human 
mind  could  estimate.  Six  unhappy,  wretched  girls  and  three 
boys,  clothed  in  rags,  and  with  squalid  countenances,  had  been 
already  brought  in  by  the  police,  and  were  present  to  give  a 
practical  illustration  of  the  nature  of  the  task  before  them.  An 
address,  appropriate  to  the  occasion,  was  made  by  Hugh  Max 
well,  Esq.,  one  of  the  managers.  "  And  not  an  individual," 
says  the  writer  of  the  first  report,  "  it  may  safely  be  affirmed, 
was  present,  whose  warmest  feelings  did  not  vibrate  in  unison 
with  the  philanthropic  views  which  led  to  the  foundation  of  this 
House  of  Refuge." 

In  May  of  the  present  year,  1868,  Mr.  Maxwell  was  present 
at  the  Sabbath  service  of  the  Refuge,  and  addressed  the  children. 
About  a  thousand,  with  their  officers,  were  present  in  the  large 
and  beautiful  chapel  of  the  institution.  With  emotions  which 
he  found  it  very  difficult  to  suppress,  he  contrasted  the  gather 
ing  in  January,  1825,  the  nine  unhappy-looking  children,  with 
the  great  animated  and  interested  audience  before  him — the 
low,  inferior  building,  rendered  barely  comfortable  for  seventy 
children,  and  the  palace-like  structure  in  which  they  were  now 
worshipping.  More  than  twelve  thousand  children  have  been 
the  successors  of  this  first  handful  of  delinquent  girls  and  boys. 
But  more  than  this  result  was  inaugurated  at  this  New- Year's 
dedication  of  a  house  of  reform.  During  this  period,  in  our 
own  country,  more  than  twenty  such  institutions  have  been 
established,  and  there  have  been  gathered  within  their  walls 
from  forty  to  fifty  thousand  perilled  or  criminal  youths. 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  79 

Effect  of  Refuge  upon  Criminal  Youth  in  the  City. 

By  the  21st  of  October  of  the  year  of  opening,  Mr.  Maxwell, 
whose  office  as  district  attorney  enabled  him  to  speak  with 
authority  upon  this  point,  was  able  to  say :  "I  am  happy  to 
state  that  the  House  of  Refuge  has  had  a  most  benign  influence 
in  diminishing  the  number  of  juvenile  delinquents.  The  most 
depraved  boys  have  been  withdrawn  from  the  haunts  of  vice, 
and  the  examples  which  they  gave  in  a  great  degree  destroyed. 
Before  the  establishment  of  the  House,  a  lad  of  fourteen  or 
fifteen  years  of  age  might  have  been  arrested  and  tried  four  or 
five  times  for  petty  thefts,  and  it  was  hardly  ever  that  a  jury 
would  convict.  They  would  rather  that  the  culprit,  acknowl 
edged  to  be  guilty,  should  be  discharged  altogether,  than  be 
confined  in  the  prisons  of  our  State  and  county.  This  rendered 
the  lad  more  bold  in  guilt,  and  I  have  known  instances  of  lads, 
now  in  the  House,  being  indicted  half  a  dozen  times,  and  as 
often  discharged  to  renew  the  crimes,  and  with  the  conviction 
that  they  might  steal  with  impunity.  I  might  enlarge  on  the 
benefits  of  this  noble  charity  were  it  necessary.  Of  this  I  am 
certain,  that  no  institution  has  ever  been  formed  in  this  country 
by  benevolent  men,  more  useful  or  beneficent."  . 

During  the  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  opening  of  the 
House,  Mr.  Maxwell  has  been  permitted  often  to  have  interest 
ing  illustrations  of  the  effect  of  the  training  of  the  institution 
upon  individuals  brought  to  his  notice.  Persons  well  situated 
in  life,  bearing  excellent  characters,  when  meeting  him  in  public 
conveyances,  remind  him  of  their  recollection  of  his  securing 
their  committal  to  the  House  of  Refuge,  and  of  his  addresses  to 
the  inmates,  as  a  manager.  For  a  period  of  ten  years,  he 
passed  nearly  every  Sabbath  afternoon  at  the  House.  Once, 
not  long  since,  crossing  in  the  ferry-boat  from  Nyack  to  Tarry- 


80         A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Interview  on  the  Ferry-boat. 

town,  a  gentleman,  who  had  driven  on  board  with  a.  fine  team 
of  horses  and  an  elegant  carriage,  and  whom  he  learned  after 
ward  to  be  a  man  of  property  and  reputation,  having  a  beauti 
ful  family  growing  up  around  him,  came  to  him  and  offered  his 
hand,  remarking,  "  You  do  not  remember  me?"  Mr.  Maxwell 
had  to  assure  him  that  he  could  not  recall  his  name  or  his  face. 
The  gentleman  then  reminded  him  of  a  scene  in  the  court-room, 
and  all  the  circumstances  came  back  freshly  to  his  remembrance. 
A  lad  was  brought  up  for  trial,  and  Mr.  Maxwell  was  so  struck 
with  his  appearance  that  he  moved  the  court  to  save  him  the 
disgrace  of  the  penitentiary,  and  to  commit  him  to  the  House 
of  Refuge.  The  recorder  was  much  interested  in  his  behalf, 
and  addressed  him  with  kindly  counsels.  Many  particulars  of 
the  youth's  history  had  passed  from  Mr.  Maxwell's  recollection, 
which  are  preserved  on  the  records  of  the  House.  The  boy  was 
between  seventeen  and  eighteen  ;  he  had  been  a  clerk,  and  held 
in  much  esteem,  in  the  office  of  Aaron  Burr,  but  had  chosen 
evil  associates  of  both  sexes.  He  was  made  an  officer  in  the 
Refuge  after  a  few  months,  having  by  his  handsome  address  won 
the  confidence  of  Mr.  Curtis,  and  was  permitted  to  visit  the  city. 
He  again  fell  into  temptation  while  enjoying  this  indulgence, 
and  was  finally  returned  as  an  inmate  to  the  House.  His  life 
was  not  entirely  regular  for  the  first  few  years  after  his  dis 
charge,  but  the  last  account,  many  years  before  he  met  Mr. 
Maxwell,  was  favorable.  He  gratefully  acknowledged  the 
benefit  he  had  received  from  the  discipline  of  the  Refuge. 

In  reading  the  first  report  and  the  daily  record  of  the  first  year, 
one  familiar  with  the  present  condition  of  the  House  of  Refuge 
cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  peculiar  moral  aid  which 
constant,  regular,  and  somewhat  exacting  (so  far  as  the  attention 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  81 

Kestlessness  of  Boys.— Error  iu  Chicago  School. 

is  concerned)  employment  gives  in  the  work  of  reforming  these 
vicious  and  almost  always  mentally  and  physically  indolent 
children.  Their  occupation  at  first  was  miscellaneous,  working 
in  the  garden,  aiding  the  repairs  and  construction  of  buildings, 
shoe-making  and  tailoring,  and  the  general  housework.  The 
superintendent  of  the  first  year  speaks  of  "  a  restlessness  and 
an  effort  to  escape,  rendering  a  constant  guard  necessary."  The 
most  conspicuous  items  in  the  first  volume  of  the  daily  jour 
nal  are  those  that  relate  to  attempted  or  successful  escapes. 

Something  more  than  the  warm,  paternal  affection  which 
was  lavished  upon  them,  and  which  did  not  fail  in  numerous 
instances  to  call  out  the  strongest  filial  returns,  and  even  the 
delightful  scientific  addresses  and  conversations  which  beguiled 
the  time  of  their  meals  and  other  hours,  was  found  requisite  to 
bring  these  children  of  lazy  and  vicious  habits  into  a  love  of 
wholesome  work,  and  to  a  manly  self-restraint. 

No  person  connected  with  reformatory  institutions  made  so 
strong  an  impression  upon  the  members  of  the  two  conventions 
of  the  officers  and  friends  of  these  establishments,  held  in  1857 
-'59,  as  the  gentleman  at  that  time  superintendent  of  the  Reform 
School  in  Chicago.  He  was  apparently  the  father  of  a  large 
family,  and  had  rendered  walls  and  bars  unnecessary  by  the 
strong  moral  and  social  cords  which  he  had  succeeded  in 
throwing  around  his  boys.  He  could  trust  them  everywhere, 
and  was  constantly  sending  them  to  the  city,  and  permitting 
them  uncommon  indulgences.  All  this  was  delightful  to  hear, 
and  had  every  appearance  of  being  the  simple  expression  of  the 
actual  facts.  The  gentleman  himself  was  conscious  of  no  flaw 
in  his  system  of  discipline.  But  his  successor,  after  a  short 
period,  found  the  institution  in  a  shockingly  demoralized  con- 


82         A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Effect  of  Indulgence. — Boy  of  Good  Family  committed. 

dition.  This  well-meant  indulgence  had  proved  the  ruin  of 
many  of  the  inmates.  The  boy-officers,  in  whom  he  had  trusted, 
had  abused  their  opportunities  to  their  serious  injury,  and  the 
inmates  who  had  been  permitted  to  visit  the  city  had  been  guilty 
of  crimes,  while  availing  themselves  of  his  confidence. 

These  are  human  children,  but  their  affections  and  passions 
have  been  fearfully  perverted,  and  they  require  something 
different  from  the  ordinary  training  of  an  indulgent  home  to 
enable  them  to  overcome  the  evil  habits  of  years.  Indeed, 
many  of  them  have  fallen  into  sin,  not  through  the  lack  of 
kindness  at  home,  but  through  the  manifold  temptations  of 
the  streets  and  the  peculiar  weakness  of  their  moral  natures. 
It  was  only  a  few  years  after  the  opening  of  the  House, 
that  the  superintendent  sent  a  gentleman  to  the  managers  with 

the  following  introductory   letter:    "The   bearer,  Mr.   J 

W ,  Jr.,  has  been  known  to  me  for  about  three  years,  from 

the  circumstance  of  his  occasionally  sending  donations  to  the 
House  of  Refuge  of  boxes  of  chocolate,  etc.,  he  being  a  manu 
facturer  of  the  same.  He  is  unfortunate  in  one  of  his  sons,  and 
fears  that  inevitable  destruction  will  be  the  boy's  doom,  if  not 
placed  in  the  House  of  Refuge.  Mr.  W called  on  Alder 
man  Burtis  for  an  order  to  send  him  there,  but,  on  account  of 
his  being  sixteen  years  of  age,  he  declined  giving  his  consent 
thereunto,  but  wished  him  to  make  application  to  the  Board  this 

evening.     Mr.  W says  that  his  son  is  small  of  his  age.    His 

frequent  tokens  of  benevolence  call  upon  your  fatherly  kind 
ness  to  aid  in  stopping  the  boy's  progress  in  vice." 

There  has  not  been  a  period  in  the  history  of  the  institution 
when  this  class  of  boys  has  not  been  represented  in  considerable 
numbers  among  its  inmates.  The  sons  of  some  of  the  shining 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  83 

The  Case  of  the  Young  Sea-captain. 

lights  of  the  New-York  bar  and  of  several  of  the  clergy  have, 
from  time  to  time,  passed  through  its  halls,  and  in  every 
instance,  we  believe,  with  profit. 

In  1858,  C.  W.  P.,  seventeen  years  of  age,  was  sent  to  the 
House.  He  had  a  comfortable  home  and  good  friends.  The  ab 
sence  of  his  father  (who  was  a  sea-captain)  from  home,  and  the 
indulgence  of  his  mother,  left  him  without  parental  control.  Not 
fancying  school,  he  was  permitted  to  seek  employment.  He  fell 
among  bad  associates,  frequented  places  of  vicious  amusement, 
lost  his  position,  and  became  quite  dissipated.  For  a  theft  of  a 
considerable  sum  of  money,  which  he  finally  confessed,  he  was 
arrested.  The  court,  struck  with  his  intelligence,  and  reluctant  to 
send  him  to  the  certain  ruin  of  the  penitentiary,  obtained  permis 
sion  to  commit  him  to  the  Refuge,'  although  above  the  legal  age. 

For  some  months  he  was  restless,  and  exposed  himself  to 
severe  discipline.  After  a  time,  however,  he  yielded,  and  be 
gan  to  develop  manly  and  hopeful  qualities.  At  the  close  of 
the  year  he  was  permitted  to  ship  on  board  a  whaling-vessel. 
He  afterward  entered  the  merchant  service.  He  has  been  for  a 
long  time  master  of  a  vessel.  His  voyage,  before  the  last,  to 
China,  was  made  as  master  of  the  fine  steamer  A  o.  Pleas 
antly  married,  and  living  near  the  city,  he  never  fails  to  report 
himself  when  in  port,  or  to  express  his  grateful  remembrance  of 
the  rigid  but  just  and  wholesome  discipline  of  the  House. 

Regular  labor,  in  connection  with  regular  hours,  daily,  for 
tuition  in  school,  wonderfully  calms  this  restlessness,  so  peculiar 
ly  the  characteristic  and  second  nature  of  these  children  of  the 
street.  The  large  sum  which  it  now  annually  secures  toward 
the  support  of  the  institution  (nearly  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  whole 
present  outlay)  is  the  smallest  benefit  accruing  to  the  in- 


84        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Advantages  of  a  System  of  Labor. 

mates  of  the  House  from  their  labor.  Every  child,  from 
the  oldest  to  the  youngest,  has  a  daily  task  wisely  adapted 
to  its  age  and  ability.  A  trade  in  most  instances  is  thus 
secured,  upon  which  the  youth  may  rely  for  his  own  sup 
port  aud  for  that  of  those  dependent  upon  him.  Hundreds  of 
young  persons  are  now  in  the  city,  following  the  trades  which 
they  learned  at  the  Refuge.  But  the  crowning  advantages 
arising  from  this  system  of  labor  are,  the  habits  of  attention 
and  industry  which  are  not  merely  inculcated  in  the  shops,  but 
are  actually  developed  and  cultivated.  These  children  come  to 
the  institution  almost  universally  heedless  and  indolent.  They 
have  never  been  put  to  serious  labor,  and  seem  almost  to  have 
lost  the  capacity  of  entering  upon  any  work  requiring  intelli 
gence  and  skill.  This  condition  of  mind  has  rendered  their 
attendance  upon  school  almost  profitless,  even  if  they  have  been 
sent.  The  boy  enters  the  shop.  The  simplest  form  of  labor  he 
is  about  to  undertake,  requires  careful  attention.  There  is  no 
escaping  the  necessity  of  yielding  his  whole  mind  to  the  work. 
It  is  a  slow  and  painful  process  at  first,  but  it  is  almost  univer 
sally  successful.  A  new  capacity  is  developed,  as  novel  and 
pleasantly  exciting  to  the  boy  as  to  his  friends.  He  can  work, 
and  labor  brings  its  grateful  sense  of  self-respect,  and  awakens 
a  wholesome  ambition  for  the  future.  The  beneficial  effect  of 
this  is  immediately  felt  in  the  schools.  The  boy  takes  hold  of 
his  books  with  the  same  attention  that  he  has  just  given  to  his 
work,  and  his  success  in  the  latter  assures  him  of  the  same  in 
the  former  if  he  is  duly  diligent.  And  the  benefit  of  this  is  seen 
in  his  moral  and  religious  life.  He  comes  to  the  chapel  and  to 
daily  devotions  with  this  same  newly-formed  .habit  of  giving  his 
mind  wholly  to  the  business  before  him.  This,  in  some  degree, 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE. 


Opinion  of  a  Massachusetts  Gentleman.—  Shop  better  than  Farm. 

may  account  for  the  extraordinary  attention  yielded  by  our  in 
mates  to  all  the  religious  services  of  the  House.  The  workshop 
has  become  literally  a  "  means  of  grace,"  and  an  efficient  hand 
maid  of  the  schools.  A  cultivated  gentleman  of  Massachusetts, 
who  is  particularly  interested  in  the  public-school  system  of  that 
State,  remarked,  when  passing  through  the  shops,  that  some  such 
simple  form  of  labor  would  be  a  beneficial  complement  of  com 
mon-school  instruction.  The  celebrated  Swiss  school,  which 
has  enjoyed  such  a  wide  reputation  in  Europe,  and  secured 
many  pupils  from  the  United  States  (the  Hofwyl  School  of  In 
dustry),  was  conducted  upon  this  plan,  combining  labor  with 
scholastic  education. 

Indolence  is  the  mother  of  ignorance  and  impiety.  It  is  the 
aimlessness  and  helplessness  of  these  vagrant  children  that  make 
them  so  certainly  the  victims  of  temptation.  Every  inmate 
leaving  a  reformatory  should  b3  able  to  say,  "  I  learned  to  work 
there."  On  some  accounts  the  shop  offers  a  more  wholesome 
discipline  to  these  youths  than  the  farm.  The  latter  wrearies 
the  body  without  awakening  the  mind  or  imperatively  demand 
ing  the  attention.  These  u  children  of  the  desert"  require  a 
stronger  counter-irritant  than  the  work  of  the  field  to  summon 
into  action  the  slumbering  energies  of  thought  and  will.  From 
the  shop,  if  their  natural  inclinations  draw  them  to  the  country, 
they  may  be  safely  removed  to  the  farm,  with  habits  of  care  and 
industry  formed  that  could  not  be  nurtured  by  agricultural  pur 
suits. 

In  the  second  report,  we  have  assurance  how  early  this  truth 
had  made  its  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the  Board  :  "  The 
boys,  when  in  health,  are  kept  strictly  employed  during  the 
hours  appointed  for  labor,  at  chair-making,  tailoring,  brass-nail 


86        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
"Work  early  enforced,  but  always  subordinate  to  the  Child's  Interests. 

manufacturing,  and  silver-plating.  The  object  being  not  only 
to  keep  them  employed,  but  to  teach  them  some  trade  by  which 
they  may  obtain  a  livelihood  when  set  at  large." — The  chief 
office,  however,  of  this  work  was  distinctly  set  forth  in  the  first 
collection  of  "  rules  and  regulations." — "  The  introduction  of 
labor,"  it  states,  as  its  opening  paragraph,  "  into  the  House  of 
Refuge,  will  be  regarded  principally  with  reference  to  the  moral 
benefits  to  be  derived  from  it.  If  the  employment  should  be 
unproductive  of  much  pecuniary  profit,  still  the  gain  to  the  city 
and  State  will  eventually  prove  considerable,  from  the  reforma 
tion  and  consequently  the  reduced  number  of  offenders." 

The  profit  to  be  derived  from  labor  has  never  been  permitted 
to  lengthen  for  an  hour  the  time  of  the  child's  restraint  in  the 
House.  Whenever  the  character  and  education  of  an  inmate 
justified  the  discharge,  no  circumstance  connected  with  the 
value  of  the  labor,  or  experience  or  reliability  of  the  youth,  in 
the  shop  or  House,  has  been  allowed  a  moment's  considera 
tion.  The  contractor  at  one  time  offered  a  large  advance  if 
the  experienced  boys  were  retained  in  the  House  for  a  few 
months  longer.  The  late  Charles  M.  Leupp,  a  respected  and 
wealthy  merchant,  \vhose  large  business  experience,  excellent 
judgment,  and  rare  humanity,  were  devoted  to  the  interests  of 
the  institution  for  many  years  before  his  lamented  death,  when 
he  heard  the  proposition  announced  in  the  Board,  rose  in  his 
seat,  and  with  much  feeling  protested  that  never,  without  his 
condemnation,  should  an  inmate  be  retained,  even  for  the  most 
limited  period,  for  any  purpose  of  pecuniary  profit.  Labor  must 
be,  he  held,  entirely  subordinated  to  the  great  work  of  reforma 
tion,  and  when  that  was  effected,  the  inmate  was  wronged  were 
he  retained  longer  in  their  custody.  This  sentiment  was  unani- 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  37 

Effect  upon  a  Boy  of  Good  Family. 

mously  sustained  by  the  Board.  Eight  hours  in  the  early  years 
were  devoted  to  labor,  which  is  an  hour  more  than  at  present, 
four  to  study  in  the  school,  and  the  remainder  of  the  twenty-four 
to  rest  and  recreation. 

The  period  of  labor,  it  ought  to  be  stated,  is  much  shortened 
by  the  diligence  of  the  inmate.  Moderate  stints  are  given  to 
inspire  and  reward  activity,  and  long  before  the  tardy  children 
reach  the  appointed  limit  of  daily  labor,  the  yards  are  ringing 
with  the  joyful  voices  of  those  who  have  completed  their  tasks, 
and  are  thus  enabled  to  extend  the  hours  of  recreation. 

A  letter  received  from  a  young  man  by  the  author,  while 
writing  this  history,  bears  a  significant  testimony  to  the  effect 
of  this  discipline  of  sharp  labor  upon  a  boy  of  good  parentage, 
but  of  perverted  habits.  He  was  between  seventeen  and  eigh 
teen  when  committed  for  stealing.  He  had  been  united  with  a 
church  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  but  had  been  drawn  aside  into 
evil  company,  and  had  a  strong  inclination  to  theft.  His  pleas 
ant  address,  and  his  interesting  family  relations,  awakened  much 
sympathy  in  his  behalf.  Instead  of  being  placed  in  the  shop, 
he  was  employed  in  the  light  work  of  taking  care  of  the  halls. 
Opportunities  offered  to  test  his  character,  and  this  strange  habit 
of  appropriation  was  found  to  be  still  his  master.  He  was  sent 
to  one  of  the  hardest  positions  in  the  shop,  and  remained  there 
for  months,  and  this  is  his  testimony,  after  more  than  a  years 
absence  in  well-doing  from  the  House,  written  in  a  hand  nearly 
as  perfect  as  copper -plate  engraving  :  "If  you  should  look  over 
the  roll-book,  you  will  see  my  name  opposite  the  House — number 
— ,  and  I  am  quite  sure  you  will  remember  me.  What  I  want 
to  say  is,  what  the  Refuge  has  done  for  me.  It  was  the  turning- 
point  in  my  life.  I  shall  never  forget  the  lesson  I  learned  there. 


88        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Good  Fruits  of  Mr.  Curtis's  Labors. 

"When  I  was  there,  I  thought  it  was  hard  when  Mr.  Jones 
placed  me  in  the  shop,  but  now  I  thank  him  for  doing  it.  Be 
fore  that  I  was  asleep,  but  that  brought  me  to  my  senses. 
When  I  was  in  the  shop  burnishing,  I  made  up  my  mind  that, 
when  I  was  discharged,  I  would  live  a  Christian  life,  and  I  have 
followed  it  up.  The  Refuge  dealt  with  me  as  the  man  did  when 
he  had  a  bird  that  could  sing  but  wouldn't  sing — JIG  made  him 
sing.  I  allowed  the  devil  to  build  a  wall  all  around  me,  but  he 
could  not  put  a  top  over  it ;  so  that  I  could  get  up.  This  I  have 
begun  to  do.  and,  with  God's  help,  I  mean  to  continue." 

The  institution  began  early  to  bear  fruit.  Many  evidences 
was  the  first  superintendent  permitted  to  see,  in  after-days,  that 
his  labors  had  not  been  in  vain.  It  was  his  custom  to  gather 
the  children  together  each  evening  around  a  long  table,  he  sit 
ting  at  the  head,  and  to  invite  them  to  ask  him  questions  upon 
such  subjects  as  might  occur  to  their  minds,  the  various  pro 
cesses  of  manufacture,  and  curious  questions  in  science.  These 
questions,  with  great  pains-taking  and  interest,  he  would  answer. 
"  I  remember,"  says  a  friend,  writing  to  his  daughter,  "  that 
once  a  boy,  aged  about  twelve  years,  inquired,  '  What  attracts 
the  magnet  to  the  north  pole  ? '  I  see  your  father's  face  now,  as 
after  a  pause,  he  replied,  '  The  future  life  of  a  boy  asking  that 
question  is  marked  and  determined.' "  Either,  as  suggested, 
the  natural  taste  of  the  boy,  or  the  interesting  lecture  upon  his 
own  question,  or  the  inspiring  commendation  of  Mr.  Curtis,  one 
or  all,  resulted  in  a  life  upon  the  sea.  The  lad  became  a  highly- 
respected  shipmaster,  and  acquired  a  fortune.  He  lost  his  life 
some  twenty  years  afterward  on  a  voyage  from  a  Southern  port 
to  New  South  Wales.* 


"  Memoir  of  Joseph  Curtis." 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  39 

Letter  to  Mr.  Curtis  from  a  former  Inmate. 

His  daughter  after  his  death  received  a  letter  from  a  gentle 
man,  who,  when  he  came  to  the  House,  was  entirely  without 
education,  and  had  since  enjoyed  no  opportunity  of  adding  to 
that  which  he  received  at  the  institution.  He  spent  his  early 
life  after  his  discharge  in  trading-voyages  to  foreign  ports,  but 
at  the  time  he  wrote  his  letter  was  filling  a  place  of  trust,  offered 
him  by  one  of  the  first  and  most  honored  citizens  of  New  York. 
He  was  enabled  to  bestow  upon  his  seven  children  an  education, 
the  want  of  which  he  had  felt.  He  expressed  no  reluctance  to 
have  his  letter  used,  but  remarked  :  "  My  children  know,  and 
thank  God,  that  it  was  Mr.  Curtis  who  made  rue  the  man  I 
am.  .  .  .  My  first  sight,"  he  says,  u  of  Mr.  Curtis  was  in  1825. 
I  was  in  prison  and  under  the  law  for  crime.  I  was  an  orphan, 
well  acquainted  with  all  the  crimes  that  man,  woman  or  boy, 
can  commit.  I  hated  all  that  was  good  in  man  or  woman  till  I 
saw  Mr.  Curtis,  and  for  some  months  I  hated  him,  till  his  kind 
love  won  my  love.  His  first  conversation  with  .me  was  all  kind 
ness,  to  show  me  I  would  not  be  punished  for  the  crimes  I  had 
committed,  but  for  any  thing  I  should  commit  while  under  bis 
charge  ;  that  if  I  told  the  truth,  and  did  as  well  as  I  knew  how, 
he  would  make  a  man  of  me.  At  first  I  could  not  believe.  I 
had  heard  too  many  persons  promise  the  same  ;  but  he  'was  the 
only  man  who,  under  all  circumstances,  never  forgot  his  prom 
ise  to  any  boy  or  girl,  to  my  knowledge,  and  I  had  a  good 
chance  to  know.  His  first  point  to  gain  was  to  convince  each 
boy  and  girl  that  he  did  not  wish  to  punish  them,  but  to  gain 
them  by  love ;  for  when  he  had  to  punish,  he  would  talk  long 
and  kindly  to  the  boy  or  girl,  till  the  tears  would  flow  from  his 
own  eyes,  and  then  from  the  person  that  was  to  be  punished,  till 
those  that  were  looking  on  felt  more  sorrow  for  his  feelings  than 


90       A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
The  Trial  by  a  Jury  of  Boys. 

for  the  boy.  He  would  say, '  My  son,  it  is  hard,  I  feel  it  hard, 
but  the  body  must  suffer  to  make  the  mind  obey.'  His  plan 
was  for  the  boys  to  try  each  other  by  jury,  and  he  was  the 
judge.  Each  boy  made  his  complaint  and  called  witnesses, 
and  then  it  went  to  the  jury,  and  if  found  guilty,  the  number  of 
stripes  was  named  by  the  foreman,  and  Mr.  Curtis  put  it  on  ; 
not  in  anger,  but  in  mildness,  telling  them  all  the  time  how  it 
grieved  him.  The  boy,  after  punishment,  had  no  hard  thoughts 
of  him,  but  felt  truly  sorry  and  ashamed  to  offend  him.  The 
first  capital  offence  (as  the  phrase  was  with  the  boys),  which  I 
committed,  was  an  attempt  to  run  away  by  getting  over  the 
wall.  Another  boy  and  myself  hid  under  Mr.  Miller's  dwelling- 
house  at  dusk,  and  when  the  roll  was  called,  we  were  missed. 
We  wTere  soon  found,  and,  oh  !  the  sensation,  the  dread  of  meet 
ing  that  kind  face,  with  so  kind  a  smile,  was  worst  of  all.  '  My 
son,'  he  said,  '  have  you  got  tired  of  doing  well?  I  am  very 
sorry  that  you  could  not  believe  me  that  this  was  a  good  home, 
and  the  best  you  could  have  at  present.  Now  I  must  punish 
you,  and  it  hurts  me  more  than,  it  does  you.'  One  case  that 
happened  to  myself,  bears  very  strong  upon  my  mind  even  to 
this  day.  After  trying  to  escape,  and  being  caught,  how  power 
ful  was  the  punishment  of  his  taking  me  to  walk  with  him  alone, 
and  putting  his  arm  around  my  neck  and  his  hand  in  my  bosom, 
and  speaking  such  kind  words  that  it  ought  to  win  any  one  !  I 
mention  a  case  to  show  his  reliance  on  a  good  God,  which 
occurred  in  1826  or  '27.  There  was  a  rumor  of  the  world 
coming  to  an  end  ;  and  on  one  particular  night  there  was  to  be 
a  ring  around  the  moon,  and,  sure  enough,  there  was,  and  many 
began  to  fear.  About  eight  o'clock  that  summer  evening,  he 
said,  '  My  sons,  you  see  that  ring  as  they  have  foretold.  It  de- 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  91 

A  Case  of  Severe  Discipline. 

notes  nothing  to  fear  for  those  that  do  as  well  as  they  know 
how/  He  talked  kindly  and  long  till  our  fears  departed."  Many 
other  illustrations  of  the  paternal  manner  of  his  old  superintend 
ent,  this  grateful  young  man,  redeemed  from  a  life  of  crime, 
records  in  his  letter. 

He  was  sometimes  very  severe  in  the  administration  of  cor 
poral  punishment,  but  his  characteristic  love  of  the  boy  always 
appeared  like  a  bow  in  the  cloud,  spanning  the  storm. 

"  Two  boys,  known  as  hard  cases,  were  sent  to  the  Refuge 
from  the  Sessions.  Soon  after  their  commitment,  one  of  them 
attempted  to  escape,  was  detected  and  punished.  His  com 
panion  reproached  him  for  submission,  and  with  an  oath  threat 
ened  resistance  to  the  death  under  kindred  circumstances.  Mr. 
Curtis  happened  to  overhear  the  young  rebel,  and  his  course 
was  at  once  taken.  It  may  not  be  improper  to  premise  that  the 
instrument  of  chastisement  used  by  him,  though  incapable  of 
bruising,  was  capable,  when  applied  to  sensitive  cuticles,  of  pro 
ducing  a  stinging  and  smarting  sensation,  exceedingly  painful. 

When  the  boy  was  brought  before  him,  Mr.  Curtis  said  :  '  W , 

you  have  attempted  to  overthrow  my  authority  by  inciting  your 
fellow-inmates  to  insubordination,  and  have  imposed  upon  me 
the  painful  necessity  of  punishing  you.  Remove  your  jacket.' 
4 1  won't.'  This  refusal  was  immediately  followed  by  a  smart 
application  of  the  whip  to  one  cheek  "  (a  very  dangerous  experi 
ment,  in  view  of  the  liability  permanently  to  injure  the  eye,  and 
one  that  would  not  be  permitted  under  the  present  discipline  of 
the  House),  "  with  a  repetition  of  the  order  to  remove  his  jacket. 

b  I  won't,  by ! '     The  whip  fell  with  added  force  upon  the 

opposite  cheek.  The  contest  lasted  for  several  minutes,  the 
boy  preserving  his  dogged  obstinacy,  and  Mr.  Curtis  his  quiet 


92        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Subdued  Boy.— Auxiliary  Board  of  Ladies. 

determination  to  subdue  him.  At  length  the  jacket  was  taken 
off  and  petulantly  thrown  upon  the  floor.  '  Take  up  your  gar 
ment  and  hang  it  orderly  over  the  back  of  your  chair.'  This 
command  was  also  obeyed,  but  with  a  reluctance  that  was  not 
submissiveness.  '  Now  remove  your  shirt/  Here  the  boy  burst 
into  tears ;  but  he  stripped  himself  of  his  under-garment,  and 
stood  nude,  humiliated,  and  subdued.  The  poor  young  wretch 
expected  to  be  flayed  alive  ;  but  no  such  purpose  rested  in  the 
gentle  heart  of  his  conqueror ;  his  object  was  accomplished,  and 

he  only  said,  '  "W ,  you  have  compelled  me  to  punish  you 

against  my  will ;  you  have  compelled  me  to  enforce  an  obedience 
which  should  have  been  willingly  yielded  ;  now  resume  your 
garments,  take  your  seat  in  your  class,  and  avoid  again  subject 
ing  me  to  the  pain  you  have  this  day  occasioned  me.'  The  boy 
did  so  ;  his  conduct  from  that  day  forth  was  irreproachable,  and 
he  is  now  one  of  the  wealthiest  oil-merchants  in  one  of  our 
Eastern  whaling  ports."  * 

An  auxiliary  Board  of  Ladies  was  constituted  to  have  the 
superintendence  of  the  female  department  of  the  House,  and 
this  Board  has  been  perpetuated  until  the  present.  Ladies  of 
high  reputation  and  well-known  benevolence  have  cheerfully 
met  the  labors  and  responsibilities  incident  to  this  important 
work,  and  have  not  only  yielded  their  valuable  suggestions,  as 
to  the  reformation  of  their  own  sex,  to  the  managers,  but  have 
proffered  their  warm  sympathies  and  counsels  to  the  officers  of 
the  female  department,  and  often  addressed  and  prayed  with 
the  girls.  l'In  their  weekly  visits,"  says  the  first  report,  "a 
part  of  their  time  is  employed  in  hearing  the  girls  recite  por 
tions  of  Scripture,  and  other  pieces  which  they  have  committed 

*  "  Memoir  of  Curtis,"  p.  81. 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  93 

Effect  of  their  Visits.— Mrs.  Sophia  Wyckoff. 

to  memory.  The  advantages  to  be  gained  by  the  continued 
superintendence  of  the  Ladies'  Committee,  as  the  institution  be-, 
comes  enlarged  and  the  employment  and  exercises  of  the  girls 
are  multiplied,  cannot  be  anticipated  without  feelings  of  particu 
lar  satisfaction.  In  addition  to  their  oversight  of  the  domestic 
regulations  and  of  the  employment  of  the  girls,  their  conversa 
tions  with  these  unfortunate  children,  their  admonitions,  their 
encouragement,  their  patient  efforts  to  gain  upon  their  sensibili 
ties,  to  enlighten  their  judgments,  and  to  implant,  however  slow 
ly  and  discouragingly,  the  pure  principles  of  integrity  and 
religious  obligation,  all  strengthened  by  their  clear  and  perti 
nent  explanations  of  Scripture  truths, — cannot  fail  to  come 
powerfully  in  aid  of  the  instructions  of  the  matron  in  effecting 
the  moral  improvement  of  her  charge." 

This  expectation  has  been  realized.  These  long-continued 
and  invaluable  services,  rendered  for  Christ's  sake,  have  met 
with  their  reward  on  earth  in  the  testimonies  of  many  redeemed 
women,  and  in  heaven,  in  the  blessed  words  of  the  Master : 
u  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye 
have  done  it  unto  me." 

The  spirit  manifested  by  these  ladies  during  the  long  history 
of  their  services  is  faithfully  embodied  in  the  example  of  the 
first  one  of  their  number  that  fell  at  her  post.  Mrs.  Sophia 
Wyckoff,  the  wife  of  Alderman  Wyckoff,  a  devoted  friend  and 
most  efficient  manager  of  the  institution,  was  equally  interested  as 
a  member  of  the  Ladies'  Committee.  Her  generous  gifts  and  prof 
itable  visits  to  the  House  continued  to  the  last  of  her  life.  The 
ladies  in  their  report  rendered  by  their  secretary,  Sarah  C. 
Hawxhurst,  with  affecting  simplicity,  remark  :  "  She  was  in 
deed  one  of  those  who  fed  the  hungry,  clothed  the  naked,  and 


94        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Mrs.  Sarah  0.  Hawxhurst.— Committee  of  Senate. 

visited  the  sick  and  imprisoned  ;  and  we  humbly  hope  that  she 
has  her  inheritance  with  those  who  are  blessed  of  God  our 
Father.  Her  last  moments  were  consoled  with  the  belief  that 
she  should  be  permitted,  through  the  merits  of  her  Redeemer, 
to  join  the  heavenly  company  in  praising  and  adoring  the  King 
of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords." 

Mrs.  Sarah  C.  Hawxhurst,  sister  of  Isaac  Collins,  and  fully 
sympathizing  with  him  in  his  interest  in  the  well-being  of  the 
young  and  the  rescue  of  the  unfortunate  and  criminal,  was  the 
secretary  of  the  Ladies'  Committee  from  the  first  until  her  re 
moval  from  the  city  in  1847.  In  May  of  that  year  the  superin 
tendent  records  this  well-deserved  testimony  in  his  daily  journal  : 
"  Although  far  advanced  in  years,  she  has  been  one  of  the.  most 
active  and  efficient  of  the  Ladies'  Committee  since  the  organiza 
tion  of  the  institution ;  she  will  be  greatly  missed  by  her  associ 
ates  ;  and  her  fervent  prayers  and  pious  exhortations  in  the  dis 
charge  of  her  duties  among  our  girls  will  long  be  remembered  by 
many  of  them,  and  we  trust  for  their  good." 

The  sixth  annual  report  very  happily  remarks :  "  It  is 
woman  who  invests  charity  with  her  most  beautiful  drapery, 
while  her  deeds  of  beneficence  increase  her  own  loveliness. 
Could  there  be  an  excess  of  charity,  woman  would  be  prodigal, 
'  but  in  charity  there  is  no  excess ;  neither  can  man  or  angel 
come  in  danger  by  it.' " 

In  view  of  the  good  influence  of  an  institution  under  such 
supervision,  we  may  properly  join  now  with  a  committee  of  the 
State  Senate,  in  1830,  in  saying:  "It  is  extraordinary  that, 
while  we  see  at  every  corner  of  our  streets  so  many  youthful 
females  abandoned  to  vicious  courses — while  so  many  of  them 
are  prosecuted  as  vagrants  and  criminals — so  few  should  be  found 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  95- 

A  less  Number  of  Girls  reformed.— Case  of  D.  W. 

in  ail  asylum  where,  under  the  guardianship  of  the  most  ami 
able  of  their  own  sex,  they  would  receive  religious,  moral,  and 
useful  instruction,  and,  when  they  left  the  walls  that  confined 
them,  would  be  put  into  a  right  path." 

The  proportion  of  girls  who  seemed  when  they  left  the  House 
to  take  a  decidedly  virtuous  course  has  not  been  so  large  as 
that  of  the  boys.  Vice  gives  a  woman's  nature  a  more  terrible 
wrench  than  a  man's.  It  is  harder  for  her  to  draw  a  veil  over 
the  past ;  it  seems  constantly  to  come  back  'to  her  to  rebuke  her 
and  to  overwhelm  her  with  disgrace.  Her  opportunities  to  rise 
are  not  comparable  with  the  boy's,  who  finds  a  hundred  doors 
opening  before  him ,  while  she  finds  nearly  every  honorable  door 
closed.  Most  ladies  are  less  patient  with  the  frailties  of  their 
sex  than  men,  and  less  hopeful  of  their  redemption.  Against  a 
great  weight  of  doubt  and  many  obstacles  an  erring  girl  has  to 
struggle  up  to  a  respectable  character; 

But  even  the  first  report  commences  the  series  of  very 
encouraging  incidents,  which  form  the  touching  and  appropri 
ate  close  of  every  succeeding  annual  record.  They  read  with 
natural  variations  like  the  following :  "  D.  W.,  aged  fifteen,  was 
with  the  last  two  girls  "  (whose  records  preceded  this)  "  on  the 
commission  of  their  robberies,  and  sent  to  this  place  by  the 
police  on  her  being  detected.  After  remaining  a  sufficient  time 
to  convince  the  superintendent  that  she  felt  a  desire  to  reform, 
agreeably  to  her  own  wishes,  she  was  bound  to  a  gentleman  in 
the  western  part  of  the  State.  In  a  letter,  under  date  of  the 
30th  of  August  last,  he  states,  '  that  her  conduct  has  been  good  ; 
she  has  given  less  cause  of  complaint  than  he  should  have  rea 
son  to  expect  from  a  girl  of  her  age  taken  from  one  of  our  well- 
regulated  families  in  this  part  of  the  country.  The  lessons 


9G        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  After-history  of  two  Girls. 

taught  her  while  under  your  care  appear  to  have  made  a  proper, 
and,  I  think,  a  lasting  impression  on  her  mind.  She  evinces  a 
disposition  to  learn  what  is  good,  and  such  work  as  is  proper 
for  her  she  performs  with  ingenuity  and  neatness.' 

"  J.  G.,  aged  between  sixteen  and  seventeen.  She  has  lived 
in  several  places,  but  in  none  to  any  advantage  to  her  principles 
or  habits.  Her  last  place  in  Bancker  Street,  Albany,  led  her  to 
form  evil  associates  ;  she  was  taken  up  by  the  watch,  being  in 
bad  company,  and  'was  committed  to  the  House.  With  her 
conduct  since  in  the  House  the  superintendent  has  had  better 
reason  to  be  satisfied  than  with  that  of  any  other  of  our  female 
subjects,  notwithstanding  the  vicious  life  she  led  the  last 
year  before  she  came  into  this  establishment.  She  has  many 
good  traits.  After  being  in  the  House  a  few  weeks,  she  became 
willing  to  yield  to  restraints,  and  to  attend  to  the  advice  given 
to  her.  She  has  a  good  disposition  and  pleasant  manners.  She 
was  indentured  the  beginning  of  last  month." 

The  preservation  of  our  records,  and  the  careful  gathering, 
from  time  to  time,  of  incidents  in  reference  to  the  after-lives  of 
our  inmates,  enables  us  to  follow  the  two  girls  for  a  period  of 
ten  years  after  their  discharge.  The  first,  having  honorably 
fulfilled  her  indentures,  was  respectably  married,  and  removed 
to  the  West.  The  latter  remained,  faithfully  discharging  her 
duties  in  the  family  where  she  was  bound,  but  afterward  was 
again  drawn  aside  from  the  path  of  virtue,  and  was  living  with 
a  person  whose  name  she  did  not  honestly  bear.  It  would  be 
by  no  means  safe  to  say  that  all  the  efforts  for  the  salvation  of 
the  latter  were  lost.  Who  knows  but  the  sinful  woman,  recall 
ing  the  merciful  invitations  of  the  Saviour,  of  whom  she  had 
learned  in  the  House,  "  when  she  thought  thereon,  wept  bit- 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  97 

Robert  Kelley  upon  the  Reformation  of  Girls. 

terly,"  and  again  found  pardon  at  the  hand  of  Him  who  "  came 
to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost"? 

In  the  twenty-eighth  annual  report,  Robert  Kelly,  Esq.,  then 
president  of  the  Board,  a  peculiarly  thoughtful  and  careful  ob 
server,  and  a  man  of  superior  intelligence,  remarks  upon  the 
success  of  reformatory  agencies  among  female  subjects  :  "  There 
have  existed  in  the  community,  and  in  the  minds  of  judges  and 
magistrates,  doubts  as  to  the  success  of  this  department  of  re 
form,  which  our  experience  by  no  means  justifies.  It  is  a  part 
of  the  prevailing  impression  on  the  subject  of  female  refor 
mation  ;  an  impression  which  exercises  an  unhappy  influence 
upon  them,  and  paralyzes  the  sympathies  of  the  benevolent  on 
their  behalf.  For  their  benefit,  and  the  advantage  of  society, 
it  is,  therefore,  highly  desirable  that  the  facts  should  be  ex 
tensively  known  in  regard  to  the  success  which  has  attended 
the  operations  of  the  female  department  of  the  House  of  Refuge, 
as  exhibited  in  a  trial  of  twenty-eight  years.  We  are  free  to 
say,  that  with  young  girls,  not  hardened  by  a  long-continued 
public  life  of  shame,  the  chances  of  reformation  are  quite  as 
good  as  with  boys  of  the  same  age.  Those  more  advanced  in 
years  and  evil  are  unfit  subjects  for  our  establishment,  and  likely 
to  exercise  a  corrupting  influence  ;  but  we  can  point  to  girls  who 
were  brought  from  the  lowest  haunts  of  infamy,  where  they  had 
been  living  one  or  two  years,  that  are  now  well  married  and 
perfectly  respectable.  We  have  never  experienced  any  difficulty 
in  obtaining  good  places  for  our  girls  ;  indeed,  the  demand  has 
always  exceeded  the  supply." 

Immediately  upon  the  opening  of  the  institution,  the  con 
struction  of  a  separate  building  for  the  girls  was  undertaken. 
This  Avas  completed  and  furnished,  and  was  -then  opened  in  the 


98        A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Opening  of  Girls'  House. — Dr.  Stanford's  Sermon. 

presence  of  the  managers,  the  mayor  and  Common  Council, 
members  of  the  Legislature,  and  a  large  number  of  citizens,  on 
the  morning  of  the  25th  of  December,  1825  ;  a  more  appropri 
ate  Christmas  service  can  hardly  be  conceived.  Singularly 
befitting  is  the  Gospel  of  the  Nativity  to  the  opening  of  a 
Refuge  for  young  outcasts,  of  whom  it  may  be  said,  as  of  their 
Saviour,  u  There  was  no  room  for  them  in  the  inn."  A  very 
appropriate  and  original  discourse  was  delivered  by  Rev.  John 
Stanford,  A.  M.,  upon  the  text — "  Take  this  child  away  and 
nurse  it  for  me,  and  I  will  give  thee  thy  wages  "  *  (Exodus 
ii.  9).  "The  service,"  says  a  note,  appended  to  the  sermon, 
which  was  published  for  general  circulation  by  the  Board  of 
Managers,  "was  concluded  by  the  children,  alone,  singing  an 
hymn.  The  recollection  that  those  sixty-three  unfortunates  had 
just  been  rescued  from  vice  and  the  paths  of  the  destroyer,  and 
were  now  employed  in  singing  the  praises  of  the  Lord,  together 
with  the  melody  of.  their  voices,  produced  a  most  impressive 
effect  upon  the  whole  assembly." 

By  the  time  these  improvements  were  completed,  the  man 
agers  found  that  the  fund  which  had  been  so  generously  con 
tributed  had  been  exhausted,  and  some  claims  upon  them  were 
not  yet  met.  The  Legislature  had  made  at  its  last  session  an 
annual  appropriation  of  $2,000  ;  but  in  view  of  the  increased 
numbers  that-  could  now  be  received,  the  current  expenses 
would  call  for  a  considerable  addition  to  this  appropriation. 
The  managers,  therefore,  inquire,  "  Ought  such  an  institution 
as  this  to  rest  for  its  support  on  the  voluntary  contributions  of 
the  charitable  of  a  city,  whatever  may  be  the  extent  of  the  be 
nevolence  which  it  is  calculated  to  excite  ?  Is  it  of  that  local  and 

*  We  have  given  this  unique  discourse  in  the  Appendix. 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  99 

De  Witt  Clinton's  Opinion  of  House  of  Refuge. 

incidental  character  which  places  it  in  the  class  of  those  objects 
which  are  fitted  merely  to  awaken  the  impulse  of  spontaneous 
charity  ?  Can  there  be  a  more  legitimate  and  worthy  object  of 
legislative  provision  than  the  education  of  the  destitute  ?  And 
of  all  classes  of  the  destitute,  have  not  they  the  most  emphatic 
claim  to  the  charity  of  public  instruction,  who  have  the  mis 
fortune  to  be  drawn  into  the  vortex  of  crime  by  the  force  of 
inevitable  suffering,  by  the  urgency  of  guilty  parents,  or  by  the 
excitement  of  guilty  associates?  .  .  .  We  are  encouraged, 
therefore — nay,  emboldened  and  animated — in  the  belief,  that 
upon  the  face  of  our  unvarnished  statement,  there  will  not  be 
found  an  individual  member  either  of  our  city  or  State  Legis 
lature,  who  will  say  that  an  institution,  erected  for  such  objects, 
and  commenced  under  such  auspices,  ought  to  be  left  to  struggle 
with  the  embarrassment  of  an  uncertain  support,  but  rather  that 
it  ought  to  enjoy  that  ample  countenance,  which  the  wealth  and 
prosperity  of  our  State  enable  it  so  freely  to  extend  to  insti 
tutions  exclusively  beneficent." 

De  "Witt  Clinton  was  Governor  of  the  State  ;  the  managers 
of  the  House  of  Refuge  were  his  intimate  friends  ;  he  had  be 
come  personally  interested  in  their  benevolent  movements,  and 
familiar  with  the  discipline  of  the  new  institution.  In  his 
message  he  says  :  "  The  best  penitentiary  institution  which  has 
ever  been  devised  by  the  wit  and  established  by  the  beneficence 
of  man  is,  in  all  probability,  the  House  of  Refuge  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents. 
.  .  .  During  the  short  period  of  its  existence  its  salutary 
power  has  been  felt  and  acknowledged  in  the  haunts  of  sin, 
and  in  the  diminution  of  our  criminal  proceedings.  I  cannot 
recommend  its  further  encouragement  in  language  too  em- 


100      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Governors  Veto. — Commissioners  of  Health. 

phatic,  and  I  do  believe  if  this  asylum  were  extended  so  as  to 
comprehend  juvenile  delinquents  from  all  parts  of  the  State, 
that  the  same  preserving,  reclaiming,  and  reforming  effects 
would  be  correspondent^  experienced." 

The  Governor  ever  remained  a  strong  friend  of  the  House 
of  Refuge.  Mr.  Maxwell,  in  his  happy  speech  at  the  opening 
of  the  present  House,  in  referring  to  the  early  friends  of  the 
institution,  spoke  warmly  of  Governor  Clinton.  u  When  his 
friend,  Mr.  Collins,"  said  the  eloquent  speaker,  "  once  told  him 
that  he  feared  the  Legislature  were  about  pass  an  act  to  defeat 
the  objects  of  the  founders  of  the  House  of  Refuge, '  Then,'  said 
he,  '  I  shall  put  in  my  veto.'  " 

Cadwallader  D.  Colden,  then  in  the  Senate,  made  a  report 
upon  this  portion  of  the  message.  It  was  thought  that  pro 
vision  for  the  accommodation  of  two  hundred  would  meet  all 
the  requisitions  of  the  State.  An  additional  act  was  passed  by 
this  Legislature,  empowering  the  managers  to  receive  children 
convicted  of  criminal  offences  in  any  city  or  county  of  the  State, 
and  also  providing  that  the  Commissioners  of  Health,  answering 
in  many  respects  to  the  present  Commissioners  of  Emigration, 
should  pay  over  to  the  managers  of  the  House  of  Refuge  any 
surplus  over  what  was  required  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the 
Marine  Hospital,  from  the  moneys  which  had  been  collected  from 
passengers  across  the  seas  and  from  sailors.  The  occasion  for 
this  direction  of  the  funds  thus  collected  was  the  fact  that  the 
flood  of  immigration,  just  beginning  to  break  upon  the  Atlantic 
shore,  was  one  of  the  leading  causes  of  the  increase  of  juvenile 
vagrancy  and  crime. 

To  meet  the  demands  of  the  whole  State,  extensive  additions 
were  made  to  the  buildings,  and  considerable  pecuniary  obli- 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  1Q1    » 

Support  of  the  Institution  as  finally  arranged. 

gations  were  incurred.  Difficulties  in  construing  the  act  arose 
between  the  managers  of  the  two  societies,  and  the  Board  of 
the  House  of  Refuge  was  forced  to  appeal  again  to  the  Le 
gislature.  Its  memorials  always  met  a  ready  hearing  and 
secured  a  favorable  response.  After  several  changes,  during 
succeeding  years,  in  the  manner  of  dividing  the  expense  of  the 
support  of  the  institution  between  the  city  and  the  State,  the 
present  arrangement  was  devised.  The  comptroller  pays  annu 
ally  eight  thousand  dollars ;  the  licenses  of  theatres,  shows, 
circuses,  etc.,  the  prolific  sources  of  juvenile  delinquency, 
affording  about  an  equal  amount,  are  accorded  to  the  managers 
of  the  Refuge.  The  institution  receives  its  quota  from  the 
public-school  fund,  determined  by  the  average  of  its  inmates, 
amounting  to  about  the  same  sum  as  the  previous  one.  The 
State  allows  forty  dollars  per  capita,  and  has  from  time  to  time, 
by  special  grants,  met  the  requisitions  of  the  Society  for  the 
increased  accommodations  required  by  the  growing  number  of 
inmates  under  its  care.  The  labor  of  the  inmates  has  usually 
covered  the  balance,  amounting  last  year  to  nearly  fifty  per 
cent,  of  the  whole  current  expense. 

For  five  or  six  years,  until  the  House  was  placed  in  perma 
nent  and  well-defined  relations  to  the  State,  contributions  were 
taken  up  at  the  annual  meetings  and  collected  from  yearly  sub 
scribers. 

The  internal,  educational,  and  spiritual  interests  of  the  insti 
tution  were  most  thoroughly  considered  and  watched  over  by 
the  body  of  earnest  and  intelligent  men  elected  annually,  by  the 
subscribers  forming  the  society,  to  superintend  the  House.  Being 
managed  by  an  incorporated  society,  the  institution  has  never 
experienced  the  inconvenience  and  injury  arising  from  political 


f   102      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Arrangement  of  the  Committees  of  the  Refuge. 

changes,  but  permanence  in  its  administration,  economy,  strict 
accountability  and  harmony,  have  marked  its  history  from  the 
opening  to  nearly  the  close  of  its  first  half  century. 

From  the  first  until  the  present  hour,  the  managers  have 
given  their  personal  attention  to  the  government  of  the  institu 
tion.  They  have  availed  themselves  of  all  the  talent  and  ex 
perience  of  their  officer?,  but  have,  of  their  own  judgment,  finally 
assumed  the  responsibility  of  the  various  features  of  its  economy 
and  discipline  before  they  have  been  carried  into  operation  by 
the  executive  officers.  By  this  course  the  superintendent  and 
his  assistants  have  been  defended  from  personal  misapprehensions 
and  suspicions,  and  the  institution  from  ill-considered  experi 
ments  and  changes.  At  first  the  Acting  or  Executive  Committee 
took  cognizance  of  all  the  interests  of  the  institution,  in  the 
interim  of  the  monthly  meetings  of  the  Board.  As  the  number 
of  inmates  increased,  this  committee  was  subdivided  into  School, 
Indenturing,  and  Executive  Committees,  still  one  in  their  relation 
to  the  Board.  But  upon  the  organization  of  the  new  Refuge  on 
Randall's  Island,  three  distinct  permanent  committees  were  con 
stituted — the  Executive,  the  School,  and  the  Indenturing  Com 
mittee.  The  first  two  meet  every  week.  Before  the  Executive 
Committee  every  interest  of  the  institution  passes.  Every  supply 
that  is  required  first  receives  their  order,  and  the  purchaser  is 
designated  by  them.  Every  bill  must,  be  audited  by  this  com 
mittee  before  it  is  submitted  to  the  Board  or  can  be  paid  by  the 
treasurer  of  the  society.  All  the  suggestions  of  the  superintend 
ent  arc  laid  before  this  committee,  and  must  receive  their  sanc 
tion,  or  be  submitted  by  them  to  the  Board  at  their  meeting, 
before  they  can  be  crystallized  into  the  rules  of  the  House.  The 
School  Committee  make  weekly  visitations  to  the  schools,  and 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  KEFUGE.  1Q3 

Indenturing  Committee.  —  Heman  Averill. 

hold  their  supervision  and  discipline  in  their  hands.  The  In 
denturing  Committee  meet  now  once  a  fortnight,  and  before 
them  the  friends  of  the  children  are  permitted  to  appear  to  seek 
their  discharge.  At  first  they  met  certainly  once  a  week,  and 
generally  much  oftener.  "  They  consider  it  their  duty  to  ex 
amine  minutely  and  rigidly  into  the  certificates  and  other  evi 
dence  of  the  character,  situation,  and  circumstances  of  every 
applicant  for  apprentices  ;  to  ascertain,  in  like  manner,  the  dis 
position,  turn  of  mind,  and  general  fitness  of  the  individual 
children  from  whom  the  selection  is  to  be  made  ;  and  in  addition 
to  all  this,  to  maintain,  as  far  as  practicable,  a  general  acquaint 
ance  with  the  situation  of  the  children  after  they  are  indentured, 
and  especially  with  reference  to  their  treatment  by  their  employ 
ers.  No  adequate  idea  can  be  conveyed  of  the  amount  of  time 
consumed,  of  active  exertions  made,  and  patient  investigation 
submitted  to,  in  the  performance  of  these  important  duties." 

When,  at  the  close  of  1834,  the  lamented  death  of  Heman 
Averill,  Esq.,  occurred — "  a  man,"  say  his  brother-managers, 
"  of  unblemished  character,  of  the  strictest  integrity,  piety,  and 
benevolence,  who,  without  ostentation  or  parade,  sought  to  do 
good  to  all  who  needed  it,  and  looked  for  his  reward  in  a  better 
world,  where  he  has  gone  to  enjoy  the  recompense  of  a  well- 
spent  life" — this  testimony  was  borne  to  his  unsparing  labors 
upon  this  important  committee  :  u  His  services  as  chairman  of 
the  Indenturing  Committee  were  of  the  first  importance  to  this 
institution,  the  duties  of  which  require  much  foresight  and 
knowledge  of  mankind ;  and  it  is  owing  in  a  measure  to  the 
great  interest  he  felt  for  the  welfare  of  the  youths  sent  out  of  the 
Refuge,  and  the  unwearied  pains  he  took  to  ascertain  the  char 
acter,  disposition,  and  temper  of  the  applicants  for  apprentices, 


104      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Effect  of  this  Close  Supervision  upon  the  Institution. 

that  the  boys  generally  have  been  so  happily  situated  in  the 
families  where  they  are  placed."  Upon  his  death  an  indentured 
lad  wrote  back,  expressing  his  sorrow,  and  remarking  that  u  he 
had  lost  a  good  friend." 

Through  all  this  long  period  until  the  present  time,  this 
laborious  service  has  been  patiently  borne,  or  rather  cheerfully 
proffered  ;  and  now  that  the  institution  has  reached  the  census 
of  a  thousand,  it  can  readily  be  imagined  how  heavy  a  tax  upon 
the  time  and  sensibilities  of  this  committee  must  be  the  work  of 
properly  and  conscientiously  discharging  between  nine  and  ten 
hundred  youths  from  their  custody  annually,  so  that  they  may 
feel  themselves  that,  all  things  considered,  the  best  thing  possible 
had  been  done  for  them.  No  small  amount  of  anxiety  and  care 
has  been  called  forth  in  behalf  of  those  that  have  been  indentured 
to  secure  their  rights  and  to  defend  them  from  abuses. 

The  result  of  this  close  supervision  has  been,  that  no  funds 
of  the  institution  have  ever  been  perverted  to  personal  uses,  no 
suspicions  have  prevailed  in  the  community  that  the  moneys  pro 
vided  by  the  State  and  city  have  been  unwisely  expended,  and 
the  officers  have  always  been  defended  in  their  acts  of  discipline, 
by  the  responsibility  of  men  well  known  and  respected  by  their 
fellow-citizens.  Every  act,  both  of  officers  and  committees,  has 
been  a  matter  of  record.  The  daily  journals  of  the  institution 
have  been  kept  from  the  beginning,  and  are  all  preserved.  Each 
committee  has  its  book  of  minutes,  and  all  are  submitted  to  and 
read  before  the  whole  Board  at  their  monthly  meetings.  The 
story  of  every  child  that  has  crossed  the  threshold  of  the  Refuge, 
and  of  the  after-life,  so  far  as  it  could  be  gathered,  has  been 
carefully  kept.  It  is  not  an  uncommon  occurrence  for  a  person 
to  visit  the  institution,  to  learn  the  particulars  of  his  own  early 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  1Q5 

The  Disposition  of  the  Children. — Company  for  the  West. 

life,  as  they  were  collected  from  various  sources  upon  his  admis 
sion  to  the  House. 

The  proper  disposition  of  the  children,  after  their  training  in 
the  institution,  became  a  matter  of  solicitude  at  once  in  the 
Board.  The  boys  were  all  committed  through  their  minority, 
and  the  girls  until  their  eighteenth  year.  By  an  amendment  to 
the  laAv,  the  girls  are  now  committed  for  the  same  period  as  the 
boys.  It  was  never  proposed  to  retain  their  inmates  longer  than 
to  become  satisfied  of  their  reformation.  To  return  many  of 
them  to  the  city,  was  to  insure  their  relapse  into  their  old  habits. 
The  adjoining  country,  with  its  wholesome  farms,  mechanic- 
shops,  and  house- service,  offered  wide  and  constant  opportunities 
for  placing  the  children  in  respectable  positions  upon  articles  of 
indenture.  From  time  to  time  special  efforts  have  been  made 
to  find  positions  for  the  older  boys  in  the  mercantile  and  United 
States  marine  service  ;  many  were  shipped,  in  Kantucket  and 
New  Bedford,  upon  whaling-voyages  ;  and  for  the  younger  boys, 
whose  parents  were  dead,  or  in  no  condition  to  provide  for  them, 
homes  were  found  in  the  Western  States. 

The  special  work  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society  was  antici 
pated  by  the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents 
as  early  as  1828.  Mr.  Hart  writes  in  the  daily  journal,  May 
10th:  "We  saw  the  eight  boys  for  Ohio  start  in  good  spirits, 
and  Mr.  King  appeared  to  be  pleased  with  his  charge.  It 
excited  considerable  warm  good-feeling,  to  see  so  many  little  fel 
lows  bound  for  such  a  good  and  suitable  place  from  the  House 
of  Refuge,  among  the  passengers  on  board  the  steamboat." 

The  records  of  the  Refuge  abound  with  such  instances  as 
the  following  :  F.  C.  was  sent  from  Brooklyn  when  eleven  years 
of  age.  His  father  was  dead  ;  his  mother  had  married  again. 


106      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

After-history  of  Boys  sent  to  the  West. 

His  home  became  an  uncomfortable  place  to  the  boy,  and  lie 
took  to  the  streets.  He  became  a  little  pest  in  the  neighbor 
hood,  and  was  frequently  under  arrest  for  theft.  In  1858  he 
was  sent  with  a  company  of  children  to  the  West,  and  placed  in 
a  good  family  in  Illinois.  When  he  came  to  the  institution,  he 
could  neither  read  nor  write,  but  before  his  discharge,  in  about 
two  years,  he  had  advanced  finely  in  the  school.  In  his  new 
home  he  found  good  friends.  In  an  interesting  letter,  written  a 
year  after  his  discharge,  he  announced  his  union  with  the  church, 
and  the  happy  change  in  his  affections  which  he  had  experienced. 
The  war  called  him  into  the  arnry,  where  he  served  honorably 
until  his  discharge.  He  then  reported  himself  at  the  Refuge — 
a  fine-looking  young  man.  with  his  moral  principles  evidently 
well  preserved  during  the  peculiar  temptations  of  army-life.  He 
afterward  became  a  teacher  in  a  Western  House  of  Refuge, 
writing  most  intelligent  and  judicious  letters  upon  matters  relat 
ing  to  the  discipline  of  such  institutions.  His  last  letter  to  the 
superintendent  is  from  Council  Bluffs,  where  he  was  a  student  in 
a  law-office,  preparing  himself  for  practice  ia  that  profession. 

Three  children,  two  brothers  and  a  sister,  were  sent  to  the 
institution  as  vagrants.  The  father  was  dead,  and  the  mother 
was  a  miserable,  intemperate  woman,  in  whom  the  love  of 
liquor  had  destroyed  all  natural  affection.  The  elder  brother 
and  sister  were  placed  in  families  not  far  from  the  city.  They 
are  now  grown  up,  and  greatly  respected.  The  sister  is  well 
married,  and  has  a  little  family  of  her  own.  The  younger 
brother,  Emerson,  was  sent  to  the  West.  From  his  .excellent 
home  there  last  year  this  letter  was  received  : 

"Your  note  of  inquiry  was  duly  received.  In  answer  to  it, 
allow  me  to  say,  Emerson  is  still  with  me,  is  honest,  industrious, 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  1Q7 

Leaving  the  Place  not  an  Evidence  of  the  Ruin  of  the  Child. 

improved  in  education,  and  is  healthy.  He  attends  church  and 
Sabbath-school  regularly.  I  see  nothing  to  hinder  him  from 
being  useful  in  the  future.  Besides  the  above,  I  would  inform 
you,  that  in  a  short  time,  if  he  lives,  he  will  enter  the  elementary 
department  of  the  Capitol  University,  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  with  a 
view  of  taking  a  regular  course,  preparatory  to  entering  the 
Theological  Seminary.  Should  God  spare  his  life,  some  of  you, 
perhaps,  may  hear  him  calling  poor  sinners  to  the  Saviour." 

The  fact  that  many  leave  their  places  before  their  indentures 
expire,  is  by  no  means  so  discouraging  a  matter  as  might  at 
first  be  supposed.  From  our  success  in  obtaining  information 
of  a  large  number  that  have  thus  anticipated  their  legal  dis 
charge,  we  are  convinced  that  they  have  not  left  good  principles 
behind,  nor  forgotten  the  instructions  of  the  Refuge.  Some 
times  they  have  been  impelled  by  ill-treatment,  but  often  by  the 
natural  restlessness  of  youth.  The  chaplain  of  the  institution, 
some  time  since,  was  looking  over  a  volume,  bearing  the  imprint 
of  the  House,  while  riding  in  the  city  cars.  A  stout,  well- 
dressed  man,  apparently  about  forty  years  of  age,  with  a  re 
markably  intelligent  face,  and  a  pleasant  address,  was  sitting  by 
his  side.  Glancing  upon  the  title-page,  and  seeing  the  imprint, 
he  asked,  "Are  you  connected  with  the  Refuge?  "  Upon 
an  affirmative  reply,  he  remarked  that  about  thirty  years  be 
fore  he  was  an  inmate  of  the  institution,  while  it  was  situated 
on  Madison  Square.  He  was  a  small  boy  at  the  time,  had 
fallen  into  bad  company,  and  would  have  been  ruined  had  not 
the  Refuge  opened  its  doors  for  his  rescue.  He  gave  his  num 
ber  in  the  House  at  once,  although  it  was  among  the  early  hun 
dreds,  and  his  story  on  the  records  fully  confirmed  what  he  said 
of  himself.  He  had  been  accounted  a  pretty  hard  little  fellow. 


108      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 


The  Keligious  Discipline  of  the  House. 


He  was  indentured  to  a  family  in  Norwalk,  Connecticut ;  but, 
after  a  few  years,  ran  away  and  went  to  sea.  When  he  returned, 
however,  he  visited  his  old  home  in  Connecticut,  where  he  was 
loved  by  the  family  as  a  son.  Since  then  he  had  often  visited 
them,  and  when  the  chaplain  met  him,  had  just  returned  to  the 
city  from  a  call  upon  them.  He  had  risen  from  the  lowest  to 
the  highest  position  in  the  ship,  and  had  been  both  ship-master 
and  ship-owner  in  the  China  trade.  He  preserved  a  very  grate 
ful  recollection  of  the  old  Refuge  on  Bloomingdale  Road. 

The  religious  culture  of  the  children,  from  the  opening  of  the 
House,  was  looked  upon  as  the  vital  element  of  reformation. 
Men  and  women  of  marked  religious  character  were  selected  to 
fill  its  offices  of  discipline  and  instruction.  The  daily  services, 
morning  and  evening,  and  at  meals,  were  those  of  a  Christian 
family,  and  on  the  Sabbath,  Sunday-school  instruction,  and  ad 
dresses  from  different  clergymen  and  laymen,  and  from  devoted 
members  of  the  Board,  who  were  rarely  absent,  varied  and 
rendered  impressive  the  exercises  of  the  day.  Afterward  a 
regular  chaplain  was  appointed,  who  became  responsible  for  the 
public  preaching,  but  had  no  duties  to  perform  during  the  week. 
Of  the  excellent  men  filling  this  office  we  shall  speak  hereafter. 
When  the  inmates  had  come  to  number  almost  as  many  as  a 
small  village,  and  more  than  the  majority  of  congregations,  it 
was  thought  desirable  to  have  the  chaplaincy  a  permanent  office 
in  the  House,  and  to  have  its  occupant  devote  his  whole  time,  to 
the  appropriate  work  of  his  calling,  among  the  inmates  and 
officers.  The  legitimate  expansion  of  his  work  would  be  a 
visitation  of  the  homes  of  the  children  from  the  city,  to  learn  the 
prospects  of  the  child  if  he  should  be  again  discharged  to  the 
custody  of  his  parents,  and  also  of  the  homes  of  the  indentured 


THE   FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  1Q9 


How  to  make  the  Sabbath  a  Delight. 


children  in  the  country,  to  discover  how  far  they  were  enjoying 
their  rights  at  the  hands  of  those  who  were  profiting  by  their 
services. 

It  has  been  the  object  of  the  Board  to  render  the  Sabbath 
both  a  delight  and  a  means  of  grace  to  the  children.  At  first 
the  day  was  crowded  with  exercises,  and  was  a  burden  too  heavy 
to  be  borne.  It  had 'two  sessions  of  Sabbath-school  and  two 
public  services.  It  was  not  a  day  of  rest  in  any  measure,  and 
bodily  weariness  destroyed  the  effect  of  its  religious  lessons. 
Now  there  is  one  public  service  in  the  morning,  every  portion 
of  which,  but  the  sermon  and  the  extemporaneous  prayer,  is 
arranged  liturgically,  so  that  it  is  the  worship  of  the  children, 
and  not  merely  a  round  of  religious  exercises  conducted  in  their 
presence.  In  the  afternoon  they  have  their  Sabbath-school. 
The  remainder  of  the  clay  is  devoted  to  their  religious  books  and 
papers,  and  to  quiet  recreation.  It  is,  perhaps,  affirming  only 
the  simple  truth  to  say,  there  is  not  a  youth  in  the  institution  who 
does  not  look  forward  with  pleasure  to  the  Sabbath  services. 
Clergymen  and  Christian  laymen  of  all  denominations  are  cor 
dially  invited  to  the  pulpit  of  the  House,  but  the  exercises  arc 
always  conducted  with  the  same  regularity,  and  deference  to  a 
proper  religious  taste,  and  reverence  for  the  house  of  God  that 
is  thought  indispensable  in  churches  for  adults,  where  these 
children  are  soon  to  worship.  While  every  effort  is  used  to 
render  the  instructions  simple,  attractive,  and  impressive, 
especial  care  is  taken  not  to  turn  the  services  of  the  chapel  into 
a  succession  of  miscellaneous,  amusing,  or  wearisome  addresses. 

There  has  been  no  period  of  any  length  in  the  long  history 
of  the  institution  when  there  have  not  been  affecting  illustrations 
seen  of  the  power  of  the  Gospel  to  soften  and  sanctify  the  hearts 


110      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
The  Irish  Orphan-girl. 

of  depraved  youths.  Every  report  bears  touching  testimony  in 
confirmation  of  this.  In  the  fourth  report,  the  managers  re 
mark  :  "  In  almost  every  case,  we  do  not  say  in  all  cases,  the 
discipline  of  the  institution  works  a  reformation.  The  moral 
faculties  are  awakened,  the  thoughts  of  the  young  offender  are 
turned,  often  with  regret,  upon  his  past  life,  and  he  is  led  to  re 
solve  on  a  better  course.  In  many  instances,  the  child  not  only 
thinks  of  his  future  condition  in  this  world,  but  his  mind  is 
filled  with  a  concern  for  his  eternal  as  well  as  his  temporal 
welfare  ;  a  conviction  is  produced  that  our  happiness  in  this 
life,  as  well  as  in  that  which  is  to  come,  depends  on  a  due  appli 
cation  of  our  moral  and  physical  faculties.  The  transition  of  a 
being  from  a  life  of  want,  ignorance,  idleness,  corruption,  and 
hopelessness,  to  the  enjoyments  in  the  Refuge  of  comfort,  to  the 
relief  which  is  afforded  to  the  mind  by  constant  and  useful  em 
ployment,  to  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  to  the  hope  of 
obtaining  an  honest  living,  and  to  the  consolations  of  religion, 
must  be  to  him  as  a  new  birth." 

A  little  Irish  orphan-girl  who  had  been  quite  unhappy  and 
irritable  at  first,  under  the  discipline  of  the  House,  became  very 
anxious  to  overcome  her  temper,  and  to  be  a  disciple  of  Jesus. 
Her  prayers  were  very  earnest  and  touching.  Every  one  noticed 
the  change  in  her  temper  and  life.  She  has  been  indentured  for 
some  months,  and  thus  writes,  under  the  date  of  Sunday  morning  : 
u  I  am  in  my  little  room,  reading  my  Bible  and  thinking  of  you. 
You  do  not  know  how  I  should  enjoy  to  hear  one  of  your  ser 
mons  once  more.  I  think  of  you  and  the  rest  of  my  loving  friends 
on  Randall's  Island.  Every  Sabbath  I  hear  the  bells  of  the 
churches,  and  it  puts  me  in  mind  of  my  dear  old  chapel.  I  never 
shall  forget  the  beautiful  and  interesting  story  that  Dr.  Wise  re- 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE. 


Appreciation  of  Moral  Influence  by  Inmates. 


latecl  to  us  of  Jack's  lads  being  blotted  out  "  (Charlotte  Eliza 
beth's  touching  story  of  her  deaf  and  dumb  protege).  "  I  think 
that  beautiful  little  story  brought  me  to  repentance,  and  I  still 
have  hopes  of  my  soul's  being  saved  through  Christ.  I  have  the 
Bible  that  Mr.  Jones  "  (the  superintendent)  "  gave  me  when  I 
left  for  my  pleasant  home,  and  I  hail  it  as  a  treasure  and  a 
jewel  to  my  soul.  I  have  a  very  pleasant  home  in  the  country, 
and  go  to  church  every  Sabbath." 

The  inmates  themselves  have  yielded  affecting  testimonies  as 
to  their  estimation  of  the  moral  influence  of  the  Refuge.  "  We 
have  known  children,"  says  the  writer  of  the  twelfth  annual  re 
port,  "  who,  after  they  have  left  the  institution,  have  deviated 
again  from  the  paths  of  rectitude,  but  who  still  retained  such  a 
sense  of  the  moral  care  extended  to  them,  that  they  have  actually 
persuaded  children  younger  than  themselves,  who  were  on  the 
road  to  ruin,  to  enter  the  House,  and  seek  its  paternal  care. 
One  young  girl,  who  was  thus  persuaded  by  a  former  (but  then 
tempted)  inmate  to  seek  the  protection  of  the  Refuge,  was  un 
doubtedly  saved  from  destruction,  and  she  is  now  the  wife  of  a 
farmer  in  a  neighboring  State.  We  may  also  mention  the  case 
of  a  boy  whose  two  brothers  were  received  into  the  House  some 
time  after  his  reception.  He  went  to  sea  on  a  suitable  oppor 
tunity  offering,  and  remained  absent  for  a  considerable  time. 
On  his  return  to  New  York,  he  learned  that  one  of  his  brothers, 
who  had  been  indentured  during  his  absence,  had  left  his  place 
improperly.  He  immediately  went  in  pursuit  of  him,  and,  after 
much  difficulty,  discovered  where  he  was,  and  had  him  returned 
to  the  House  of  Refuge.  Being  on  the  eve  of  a  second  voyage, 
he  felt  anxious  to  secure  for  his  erring  brother  the  continued 
kindness  of  his  old  teachers  before  his  departure."  Such  in- 


112       A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 


Libraries  for  Officers  and  Children. 


stances  as  these  have  been  of  repeated  occurrence  in  the  history 
of  the  House. 

To  aid  in  preserving  the  tone  of  piety  among  the  officers 
of  the  institution,  whose  constant  intercourse  with  the  inmates 
has  so  much  to  do  in  moulding  their  characters,  for  years  a 
weekly  lecture  has  been  sustained,  and  for  a  portion  of  the  time 
'social  religious  exercises  and  a  Bible-class.  These  services 
have  been  particularly  interesting  and  profitable. 

At  the  opening  of  the  institution,  a  library  of  nearly  five 
hundred  volumes  was  formed  by  the  donations  of  the  managers 
and  others,  and  by  purchase.  "  The  boys  who  can  read,"  says 
the  Library  Committee  in  the  second  report,  "  avail  themselves 
of  the  privilege  of  obtaining  books.  It  is  not  unusual  to  observe 
them  reading  at  table  when  their  meals  are  finished,  as  well  as 
during  their  leisure  hours,  and  particularly  on  the  Sabbath." 

By  the  application  of  bequests  to  this  object,  libraries, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  over  two  thousand  volumes,  are 
now  enjoyed  by  the  different  divisions  of  the  schools  in  the 
institution,  and  a  valuable  library  of  over  one  thousand  standard 
works  has  been  donated  and  purchased  for  the  benefit  of  the 
officers  of  the  institution. 

The  schools,  from  the  first,  collecting  the  children,  properly 
classified,  from  four  to  five  hours  every  day,  in  their  school 
rooms,  have  met  the  highest  commendations  from  the  public- 
school  superintendents. 

To  their  second  report,  the  managers  append  the  report  of 
the  sub-committee,  to  which  was  assigned  the  duty  of  providing 
books  and  school  apparatus  ;  in  which,  after  referring  to  the 
rooms  chosen  for  the  schools,  they  say  :  "  The  necessary  arrange 
ments  for  this  important  part  of  our  system  having  been  com- 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  H3 

The  Schools.— Dr.  Griscom's  Lectures. 

pleted,  the  boys'  school  was  opened  and  conducted  on  the  mon 
itorial  plan  of  education.  The  committee  have  frequently 
visited  the  school,  and  Dr.  Griscom  has  repeatedly  delivered 
familiar  lectures  on  natural  history  and  natural  philosophy, 
which  have  instructed  and  interested  the  children,  and  have  been 
listened  to  with  eager  attention.  .  .  .  We  are  persuaded  that 
if  such  lectures  were  more  frequent,  and  accompanied  with  sim 
ple  experiments,  very  beneficial  results  would  be  discovered." 
The  beautiful  school-rooms,  provided  for  the  female  department 
in  the  present  House,  with  their  four  teachers,  afford  a  pleasing 
contrast  to  the  limited  provisions  made  for  girls  at  the  opening. 
A  school-room  was  appropriated  for  their  use,  where  they  might 
receive  instruction  from  the  teacher  of  the  male  department, 
"  when  he  is  not  engaged  with  the  boys"  The  report  closes  with 
a  recommendation  that  has  been  most  faithfully  met,  that  the 
"  committee  should  visit  the  Refuge  during  the  school-session,  at 
least  once  in  each  week." 

The  schools  have  kept  up  in  every  respect  with  the  great  im 
provements  in  the  public-school  system  during  the  last  half  cen 
tury  ;  and  now,  as  to  convenience  of  arrangement,  classification, 
and  modes  of  instruction,  compare  favorably  with  the  popular 
schools  of  the  city. 

The  number  of  male  teachers  has  been  gradually  decreased  ; 
so  that  now  but  two  besides  the  Principal  are  in  charge  of  over 
eight  hundred  boys.  It  often  occurs  that  a  lady  is  left  alone 
with  four  hundred  boys  before  her.  No  difficulty  on  this  account 
has  ever  occurred.  The  assistant  teachers  are  carefully-trained 
and  well-educated  Christian  ladies.  There  has  never  been  an 
unfavorable  result  attending  the  introduction  of  ladies  into  the 

department  of  instruction,  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  oldest  and 

8 


114     A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Female  Teachers. — Teachers  formerly  Inmates. 

coarsest  of  our  boys  have  exhibited  a  deference  and  a  self-respect 
in  their  presence  that  has  benefited  themselves  as  much  as  it 
has  gratified  their  teachers.  They  have  more  than  met  for  the 
time  the  craving  of  the  boy's  heart  for  a  mother  and  sister,  by 
their  ready  sympathies  and  gentle  words.  There  are  no  names 
that  remain  longer,  or  are  embalmed  with  pleasanter  memories, 
than  those  of  their  lady-teachers,  after  the  lads  are  discharged 
from  the  Refuge.  It  is  not  an  uncommon,  and  always  a  touch 
ing,  sight  to  see  the  teacher  following  her  pupil  to  the  hospital, 
when  he  is  suffering  from  disease,  and  expressing  in  her  looks 
and  thoughtful  attentions  a  consideration  that  is  a  medicine  to  a 
sick  body  as  well  as  to  a  sorrowing  heart.  The  advance  in  rudi- 
mental  education  has  always  been  fully  abreast  of  the  attain 
ments  of  children,  of  the  same  age  and  time,  under  instruction, 
in  the  public  schools.  Several  fine  teachers  date  their  earliest 
ambition  to  become  instructors,  to  the  interest  awakened  in  their 
minds  while  members  of  the  school  in  the  Refuge. 

In  the  twenty-second  annual  report,  the  managers  remark 
that  they  have  found  it  necessary  to  employ  additional  teachers, 
and  have  engaged  two  young  gentlemen,  one  of  whom,  Mr. 
David  Brown,  "was  once  an  inmate  of  the  Refuge,  and  is  a 
happy  instance  of  the  good  influence  of  this  charity.  Here  he 
laid  the  foundation  of  his  education,  and  as  his  mind  developed 
under  the  influence  of  moral  and  religious  instruction,  he  learned 
to  discriminate,  and  to  choose  that  course  which  led  to  respect 
ability  and  happiness.  By  that  light  he  has  been  guided,  and 
has  been  enabled  to  become  a  successful  and  efficient  teacher  in 
that  very  school,  where  he  learned  the  first  lessons  in  morality 
and  virtue." 

O.  F.  B.  was  an  Irish  boy,  employed  in  a  printing-office  be- 


THE  FIRST  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE.  H5 

History  of  O.  F.  B.,  and  M.  P. 

fore  he  was  committed  to  the  House,  but  he  had  been  out  of 
employment  for  some  time,  frequenting  the  streets  with  bad 
companions.  He  was  arrested,  with  others,  for  an  act  of  petty 
larceny.  He  could  not  read  when  he  came,  but  became  inter 
ested  in  his  studies  in  the  school,  and  made  excellent  improve 
ment  in  the  House,  where  he  remained  about  two  years.  He 
was  indentured  to  a  farmer  in  our  State — an  intelligent  Chris 
tian  man,  who  gave  O.  every  opportunity  that  could  have  been 
expected  in  the  position  he  occupied.  The  young  man  became 
deeply  interested  in  religious  things,  and  united  with  the  church. 
His  love  of  study  had  followed  him,  and  he  sought  continually 
to  improve  himself.  He  was  finally  employed  to  teach  the  vil 
lage  school,  and  gave  good  satisfaction.  During  the  war  he 
served  in  the  army  for  nine  months,  but  the  condition  of  his 
health  forced  his  discharge.  He  visited  the  Refuge  a  few  years 
since,  and  passed  the  Sabbath  there.  In  the  school  he  delivered 
a  very  interesting  and  modest  address  to  the  boys,  referring  to 
his  own  connection  with  the  institution,  and  impressing  upon 
them  the  truth  that  under  God's  blessing  their  future  was  in 
their  own  hands  ;  that  all  that  was  done  for  them  would  be  in 
vain,  if  they  did  not  exert  themselves.  The  impression  of  the 
speech  was  decided  and  wholesome,  as  may  readily  be  believed. 
He  is  now  at  the  head  of  a  large  public  school  in  one  of  the 
chief  interior  cities  of  New  York,  well  married,  and  enjoying 
the  respect  of  the  community. 

M.  P.  was  as  pitiable  a  little  girl  in  many  respects  as  ever 
came  into  the  sheltering  arms  of  the  Refuge.  She  was  an  orphan, 
had  early  been  left  motherless,  and  had  fallen  under  the  worst 
influences.  After  some  advancement  in  school,  and  marked  im 
provement  in  character,  she  was  indentured  as  a  house-servant 


116      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Pursuit  of  Knowledge  tinder  Difficulties. 

in  New  Jersey.  Falling  under  religions  influences  that  nurtured 
her  in  the  life  upon  which  she  had  entered  in  the  House,  she 
united  with  the  Baptist  Church.  When  her  time  of  service  ex 
pired,  she  felt  a  strong  desire  to  improve  herself,  and  bravely 
undertook  the  task  of  hiring  herself  at  house-service,  practising 
the  closest  economy,  and,  when  she  could  secure  a  small  sum, 
she  would  avail  herself  of  a  term  in  an  academy.  Her  money 
expended,  she  would  return  cheerfully  to  her  work  again.  A 
Baptist  clergyman  called  the  attention  of  the  chaplain  of  the 
institution  to  her  case/  He  visited  her,  and  found  a  peculiarly 
modest  young  woman,  earnestly  struggling  for  an  education,  in 
order  that  she  might  better  serve  her  Master  in  any  field  of 
labor  where  He  might  call  her.  The  managers,  upon  learning 
the  circumstances,  immediately  made  arrangements  for  her  to 
prosecute  her  studies  more  favorably,  but  still  in  connection  with 
her  own  labor,  not  being  willing  to  weaken  the  noble  self-de 
pendence  which  she  had  thus  far  manifested.  At  the  present 
time  she  is  one  of  the  most  successful  and  respected  teachers  in 
a  public  institution,  holding  and  deserving  the  regard  both  of 
the  heads  of  the  establishment  and  of  her  pupils. 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


Mr.  Nathaniel  C.  Hart. 


CHAPTER  V. 
MR.    HART'S    ADMINISTRATION. 

FOR  personal  and  family  reasons  Mr.  Curtis  resigned  his- 
position  as  superintendent,  which  took  effect  July  1,  1826.  The 
managers  were  particularly  fortunate  in  the  selection  of  his 
successor.  Mr.  N.  C.  Hart  was  at  this  time  a  very  successful 
teacher  in  the  male  high-school  of  the  city.  His  personal  pres 
ence  was  becoming  to  his  position — of  medium  size,  very  stout, 
with  a  face  beaming  with  good-nature,  and  with  a  pleasant  voice. 
He  thoroughly  understood  boy-nature.  His  school  discipline, 
says  Mr.  Seaton,  one  of  the  superintendents  of  the  public  schools, 
was  peculiar  and  admirable.  At  the  least  sign  of  disorder,  he 
would  seem  about  to  strike  his  bell  a  powerful  blow,  but  he 
never  touched  it.  The  lightning  with  him  was  made  to  do  its 
work  without  the  thunder.  He  was  a  faithful  and  greatly- 
beloved  member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  was  noted  for 
the  simplicity,  sweetness,  and  depth  of  his  piety. 

Beaumont  and  De  Tocqueville,  in  their  report  upon  "  The 
Penitentiary  System  in  the  United  States,"  speak  in  these  strong 
terms  of  Mr.  Hart :  "  If  a  model  of  a  superintendent  of  a  House 
of  Refuge  were  required,  a  better  one,  perhaps,  it  would  be  im 
possible  to  find  than  that  which  is  presented  by  Mr.  Wells  "  (of 
Boston)  "  and  Mr.  Hart.  A  constant  zeal,  an  indefatigable  vigi- 


118       A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Inauguration  of  Mr.  Hart. 

lance,  are  their  lesser  qualities  ;  to  minds  of  great  capacity  they 
join  an  equanimity  of  character,  the  firmness  of  which  does  not 
exclude  mildness.  They  believe  in  the  religious  principles  which 
they  teach,  and  have  confidence  in  their  own  efforts.  Endowed 
with  deep  sensibility,  they  obtain  still  more  from  the  children 
by  touching  their  hearts  than  by  addressing  their  understand 
ing.  Finally,  they  consider  each  young  delinquent  as  their 
child ;  it  is  not  a  profession  which  they  perform,  it  is  a  duty 
they  are  happy  to  fulfil." 

Mr.  Hart  had  the  hearty  fellowship  and  support  of  his  prede 
cessor,  who  served  upon  the  Board  of  Managers  the  next  year. 

He  was  inaugurated,  Sunday,  July  2,  1826.  The  mana 
gers  of  the  Society  and  a  large  number  of  visitors  were  pres 
ent  on  the  occasion.  Rev.  Mr.  Stanford  preached  an  appropri 
ate  sermon,  and  Hon.  C.  D.  Golden,  president  of  the  Board, 
delivered  an  address  to  Mr.  Hart.  "  We  know,"  says  Mr.  Col- 
den,  in  his  charge,  "  that  you  have  left  an  establishment  where 
your  services  have  been  preeminently  useful,  and  we  are  per 
suaded  that  you  have  been  induced  to  change  your  situation 
with  a  view,  not  of  personal  advantage  only,  but  by  consider 
ations  of  public  benefit."  He  pays  a  fitting  tribute  to  the  retir 
ing  superintendent :  "  Hitherto  the  institution  has  answered 
the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  its  friends,  and  its  success 
must  be  in  some  measure  imputed  to  the  exertions,  industry, 
and  good  conduct  of  your  predecessor.  He  has  no  less  share 
than  any  other  member  of  the  institution  in  its  organization. 
While  we  receive  you  with  every  feeling  of  cordiality,  and  with 
perfect  confidence  that,  under  your  administration,  the  estab 
lishment  will  continue  to  realize  our  anticipations,  we  cannot 
take  leave  of  him  without  those  feelings  which  are  naturally 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  119 

The  Address  of  Mayor  Golden. 

connected  with  a  separation  from  a  worthy  brother  and  fellow- 
laborer,  who  so  well  deserves  the  commendation  of '  Well  done, 
thou  good  and  faithful  servant.'  " 

Of  the  work  before  the  new  superintendent,  the  president 
speaks  with  remarkable  discrimination.  His  suggestions  are  as 
forcible  and  practical  now  as  when  embodied  in  this  appropriate 
charge  :  "  The  children  you  will  have  under  your  care  are  the 
victims  of  vice  ;  not  always  resulting  from  their  own  depravity, 
so  much  as  from  the  negligence,  the  bad  examples,  and  very 
often  the  precepts  of  their  parents,  or  of  those  from  whom  their 
immature  minds  would  receive  character  and  impulse.  It  was 
believed  by  the  founders  of  this  institution  that  many  of  these 
might  be  reclaimed,  and  instead  of  being  left  to  grow  in  vice  as 
they  increased  in  years,  that  their  young  minds  might  be  imbued 
with  the  principles  of  virtue  and  religion,  and  the  juvenile  de 
linquent  transformed  into  a  virtuous,  religious,  and  industrious 
citizen.  So  far  as  we  have  had  experience,  we  are  warranted 
to  believe  that  such  reformations  may  be  effected — if  not  in  all 
cases,  at  least  in  such  a  proportion  as  will  be  an  ample  reward 
for  our  exertions.  But  our  success  can  depend  on  nothing  so 
much  as  upon  the  course  pursued  by  those  who  may  fill  the 
station  you  are  about  to  assume.  It  requires  great  kindness, 
great  patience,  and  great  firmness.  The  objects  of  your  care  will 
understand  from  your  attention  to  administer  to  their  wants  and 
comforts,  both  in  sickness  and  in  health  ;  from  your  efforts  to  give 
them  religious  as  well  as  moral  instruction  ;  from  your  making 
them  industrious,  and  giving  them  the  means  of  gaining  an  hon 
est  livelihood,  that  you  have  no  motive  but  their  welfare.  When 
this  impression  is  made  on  their  minds,  respect  and  obedience  fol 
low.  If  unhappily  they  should  not,  then  punishment  must  be 


120      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Encouragements  in  the  Work. 

inflicted.  But  this  with  you,  I  am  persuaded,  will  seldom  be 
necessary,  and  will  be  a  last  resort.  It  requires  much  less 
capacity,  much  less  knowledge  of  human  nature,  to  govern  a 
child  by  his  corporal  than  by  his  mental  feelings.  And  there 
fore  it  is  that  the  former  are  appealed  to  so  often,  and  frequently 
so  injudiciously.  A  child  may  be  made  quiet  and  industrious 
by  beating,  but  it  seldom  happens,  I  believe,  that  kindhearted- 
ness,  morality,  and  intelligence  are  induced  by  whipping.  There 
can  be  no  worthy  sentiment  in  the  apprehension  of  corporal 
chastisement ;  but  an  appeal  to  the  understanding  and  affections 
will  generally  awaken  feelings  that  soften  the  mind  and  elevate 
the  character ;  no  human  being  ever  gave  himself  credit  for 
doing  right  from  fear,  but  every  one  feels  a  self-respect  when  he 
is  conscious  that  he  does  right  from  reason.  There  may  be, 
however,  instances,  and  they  are  most  likely  to  occur  in  an 
institution  of  this  nature,  where  the  painful  necessity  of  resorting 
to  punishment  is  inevitable.  In  such  cases,  I  am  convinced  I 
need  not  say  to  one  of  your  experience,  that  their  efficacy,  either 
for  example  or  reformation,  must  depend  on  their  being  inflicted 
with  firmness  but  with  temperance,  and  with  no  more  than  a 
just  severity." 

Of  the  encouragements  which  might  inspire  the  new  incum 
bent  as  he  entered  upon  his  duties,  he  says  :  u  The  conscious 
ness  that  by  your  assistance  a  number  of  your  fellow-creatures 
are  rescued  from  perdition,  that  the  child  who  was  hurrying 
from  stage  to  stage  in  the  progress  of  vice  is  turned  to  the  paths 
of  virtue,  and  instead  of  the  hardened  adult,  becomes  the  virtu 
ous  citizen,  must  be  a  gratification  not  often  enjoyed.  But  it  is 
not  only  the  individuals  who  may  be  here  that  will  feel  the 
advantages  of  this  institution.  Society  at  large  has  experienced 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  121 

The  Condition  of  the  Children. 

and  will  continue  to  feel  its  benign  influence.  Already  has  it 
greatly  diminished  the  number  of  juvenile  offenders  who  are 
brought  to  the  bar  of  our  criminal  courts.  Formerly  there  was 
no  other  mode  of  disposing  of  these  than  by  sending  them  to  the 
penitentiary  or  to  the  State  prison.  There  they  mixed  with 
old  and  hardened  offenders,  and  after  having  their  vices  con 
firmed,  and  received  new  instructions  in  wickedness,  they  were 
turned  from  the  doors  of  the  prison,  without  character,  without 
food,  and  without  a  roof  under  which  they  could  claim  a  shelter. 
What  resource  had  these  abandoned  objects  but  to  commit  new 
crimes  ?  And  this  they  did  with  less  reluctance  because  often 
they  had  not  been  taught  the  difference  between  virtue  and 
vice."  An  additional  consideration  was  to  be  found  in  the 
orphaned  condition  of  many  of  the  inmates.  "  Frequently  an 
infant  of  tender  years  is  left  in  our  streets  without  protection 
by  the  death  of  a  father  or  a  mother.  Some  who  might  have 
been  brought  up  virtuously  and  lived  happily,  had  their  natural 
guardians  been  spared  to  them,  have  no  other  recollections  of 
their  parents  than  are  impressed  on  their  minds  by  the  agony 
with  which  a  father  or  a  mother  bade  them  an  eternal  farewell, 
and  left  them  unprotected  ancl  in  poverty  to  struggle  for  an 
existence,  and  to  encounter  the  temptations  of  the  world.  How 
many  may  there  be  among  these  poor  orphans  whose  mother — 

'  Bent  o'er  her  babe,  her  eyes  dissolved  in  dew, 
The  big  drops  mingling  with  the  milk  it  drew, 
Sad  presage  of  its  woes  in  future  years  ! 
The  child  of  misery  baptized  in  tears ! '  " 

Mr.  Hart's  response  was  modest  and  appropriate.  With  a 
lively  sense  of  his  responsibilities,  trusting  in  their  wisdom  for 
counsel  and  ic  the  guidance  of  Him  who  prompted  them  "  to 


122      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Mr.  Hart's  Response. — Mr.  Curtis's  Departure. 

these  praiseworthy  acts,"  he  consoled  himself  with  the  hope  that 
he  should  become  "  in  a  degree  a  father  to  the  fatherless." 
Addressing  the  children,  he  said :  "  I  have  sons  and  I  have 
daughters,  and  am  enabled  to  feel  for  you.  Often  in  my  deal 
ings  with  the  children  of  others  I  ask  this  question  for  my  own 
government,  '  How  should  I  like  my  child  to  be  dealt  with 
under  similar  circumstances?'  This  rule  shall  govern  me  here. 
As  to  government  I  have  no  doubt  that  many  of  these  children 
only  require  to  know  my  wishes  in  order  to  obey  them,  but 
others  will  require  to  be  more  closely  watched.  Virtue  shall  be 
rewarded,  while  vice  and  immorality  shall  be  promptly  attended 
to.  ...  In  my  opinion,  the  most  benevolent  and  humane 
method  for  the  management  of  children  is,  to  require  prompt 
and  implicit  obedience." 

Mr.  Hart's  first  inscription  in  the  daily  journal  was  an  ad 
ditional  sentence  to  the  minute  of  Mr.  Curtis,  recording  the 
services  of  the  day.  "  The  exercises,"  says  the  new  superin 
tendent,  "  were  made  additionally  interesting,  while  we  wit 
nessed  the  fond  hearts  of  the  children  bursting  forth  in  tears, 
expressive  of  their  tender  regard  for  Mr.  Curtis,  when  it  was 
announced  that  he  was  soon  to  take  his  leave  of  the  House  of 
Refuge." 

Until  Mr.  Hart's  administration  there  had  been  no  definite 
code  of  regulations,  marking  out  the  particular  duties  of  the 
different  officers  of  the  House,  giving  a  time-table  to  govern 
the  labor,  instruction,  and  recreation  of  the  day,  and  settling 
definitely  the  character  of  the  discipline  of  the  House  as  to 
rewards  arid  punishments.  Early  in  his  connection  with  the 
Refuge,  Mr.  Hart,  who  was  of  an  organizing  mind,  proposed 
the  embodiment  of  the  various  suggestions,  satisfactory  experi- 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  123 

The  two  Great  Rules.— The  Old  Gentleman. 

ments,  and  final  judgments  of  the  Board  of  Managers,  into  a 
formal  code. 

There  were  two  well-defined  and  well-understood  unwritten 
commandments,  which  heretofore  had  been  made,  and  which 
do  really  embody  all  the  requisitions  upon  the  inmates  afterward 
established  to  be  the  law  of  the  House:  1.  "Tell  no  lies." 
2.  "  Do  the  best  you  can."  These  commandments  have 
never  been  repealed.  Rules  and  regulations  have  been  made, 
modified  and  rejected ;  but  these  two  golden  precepts  have  re 
mained  the  permanent,  pervading  common  law  of  the  institu 
tion.  The  last  boy  that  entered  the  House  was  addressed  very 
much  as  Mr.  Curtis  did  the  first :  "  My  boy,  we  have  but  two 
rules  in  this  place — tell  no  lies — do  the  best  you  can.  You  can 
keep  these,  can  you  not?"  The  last  boy,  like  the  first,  smiled 
at  their  simplicity,  but  became  amazed  in  a  short  time,  as 
thousands  have  before  him,  to  find  himself  met  everywhere — 
in  the  yard,  in  the  school,  in  the  work-shop,  in  the  chapel — 
with  these  simple  but  wonderful  commandments  covering  all  his 
conduct  and  stretching  over  all  his  time  in  the  House.  The 
French  visitors,  in  1832,  noticed  this.  "  "When  a  young  delin 
quent,"  they  say,  "arrives  at  the  House  of  Refuge,  the  superin 
tendent  acquaints  him  with  the  regulations  of  the  establishment, 
and  gives  him  for  the  guidance  of  his  conduct  two  rules,  remark 
able  for  their  simplicity ;  1.  Never  lie  ;  2.  Do  the  best  you 
can." 

Only  a  short  time  since,  a  gentleman  over  forty  years  of  age, 
who  had  not  introduced  himself  to  the  superintendent,  was  sit 
ting  in  the  office,  as  some  new-comers  were  questioned  and 
taught  the  rules  of  the  House.  "  Every  thing  besides  the 
rules,"  said  the  gentleman,  speaking  to  the  superintendent, 


124      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
The  Little  Indentured  Girl. 

"  has  changed  since  I  was  in  the  Refuge.  The  site  has 
changed,  for  it  was  on  Madison  Square  then.  It  is  a  very  dif 
ferent  building,  and  the  officers  are  all  strangers  to  me ;  but  I 
see  you  have  the  same  rules.  I  have  never  forgotten  them — tell 
no  lies — do  the  best  you  can." 

These  rules  have  clung  with  remarkable  tenacity  to  the 
minds  of  the  inmates,  and  exercised  a  powerful  influence  over 
them.  The  third  report  records  the  story  of  a  little  English 
girl,  received  in  the  Refuge  when  she  was  thirteen  years  of  age. 
She  had  repeatedly  run  away  from  her  home,  had  been  twice 
placed  as  a  vagrant  in  the  Almshouse,  and  had  been  guilty  of 
stealing.  She  remained  for  two  years  in  the  House,  and  was 
then  indentured  in  the  country.  The  gentleman  in  whose  family 
she  found  a  home,  after  a  period,  wrote  of  her  :  "  I  should  have 
written  before,  but  thought  best  to  delay  until  a  sufficient  time 
had  elapsed  to  test  her  character.  It  affords  me  pleasure  to  say 
that,  after  six  months'  trial,  I  can  bear  testimony  to  the  correct 
ness  of  her  conduct.  The  fundamental  rules  of  the  institution 
over  which  you  preside  appear  to  be  indelibly  impressed  on  her 
mind.  I  have  never  discovered  any  deviation  from  the  truth  in 
her,  and  as  to  the  work  allotted  to  her,  she  performs  it  as  well  as 
a  child  of  her  years  can  be  expected  to  do.  She  expresses  her 
gratitude  to  the  managers  and  officers  of  the  House  of  Refuge, 
for  their  interference  in  her  behalf,  in  rescuing  her  from  a 
vicious  course.  She  does  now,  and  I  trust,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  will  continue  to  do,  credit  to  that  best  of  charities,  the 
House  of  Refuge." 

For  the  general  order  of  the  House,  carefully-prepared  regu 
lations  were  required.  These  were  drawn  up  with  great  con 
sideration  and  wisdom,  and  adopted  by  the  Board  at  their  meet- 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  125 

Peculiar  Forms  of  Punishment. 

ing,  January  2,  1827.  It  is  remarkable  how  few  changes  have 
been  made  in  them  from  that  day  to  this.  The  system  of  grades 
and  badges,  which  has  been  made  to  perform  so  excellent  a 
service  in  the  discipline  of  the  House,  although  not  so  fully 
developed  as  at  present,  was  then  inaugurated.  It  causes  a 
smile,  to  read  over  some  of  the  forms  of  punishment  established 
for  minor  offences.  One  was,  "  Sent  to  bed  supperless  at  sun 
set;"  another  was,  "  Gruel  without  salt  for  breakfast,  dinner, 
and  supper  ;  "  and  still  another,  which  must  have  recalled  u  the 
bitter  herbs"  of  the  Jewish  Passover,  "  Camomile,  boneset,  or 
bitter-herb  tea,  for  breakfast,  dinner,  and  supper."  A  child 
must  have  become  peculiarly  depraved  to  have  chosen  the  latter 
as  a  "  beverage."  The  time-table  was  carefully  arranged,  and 
the  general  regulations  have,  the  most  of  them,  been  justified 
by  the  experience  of  nearly  a  half  century. 

The  second  anniversary  was  an  interesting  occasion,  held  in 
the  new  chapel  of  the  House — a  pleasant  and  commodious  hall, 
constructed  in  the  female  department,  and  consecrated  with  ap 
propriate  services  in  the  month  of  October,  in  the  previous  year. 

The  House  now  held  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  boys  and 
twenty-seven  girls.  A  great  interest  had  been  awakened  by 
the  institution  ia  the  community,  and,  although  the  day  was 
very  unpleasant,  a  large  audience  was  gathered  on  the  occasion. 

The  Evening  Post,  in  announcing  the  time  of  the  meeting, 
remarked :  "  Among  all  the  late  establishments  in  this  city  for 
the  benefit  of  society,  this  is  to  be  classed  among  the  very  first, 
and  we  trust  it  will  be  regarded  in  this  light  by  an  intelligent 
and  benevolent  community." 

The  children  were  present,  and  added  to  the  interest  of  the 
hour  by  their  singing.  Judge  Irving  read  the  report,  which  he 


126      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Boys  sent  on  Whaling-voyages. 

had  prepared,  the  second  made  to  the  Legislature  and  city 
authorities  by  the  managers.  It  was  an  able  paper,  and  full  of 
encouragement  as  to  the  future  usefulness  of  the  institution. 

During  the  early  years  of  the  Refuge,  Nantucket  and  New 
Bedford  afforded  peculiar  facilities  for  the  employment  of  the 
older  boys  committed  to  its  care.  At  this  time  the  whaling- 
business  was  rapidly  growing,  and  the  demand  for  sailors  more 
than  equal  to  a  ready  supply.  Some  of  the  chief  oil-houses 
in  these  cities  were  in  the  hands  of  members  of  the  denomina 
tion  of  Friends,  who  were  accustomed  to  meet  at  their  Yearly 
Meeting  with  the  respected  and  active  members  of  the  Board 
of  Managers  who  were  of  the  same  persuasion.  A  wide  open 
ing  for  the  discharge  of  the  mature  boys,  who  would  be  most 
likely  to  fall  into  their  old  habits  if  indentured  upon  the  land, 
was  in  this  way  secured.  During  the  third  year  alone,  thirty 
boys  were  sent  on  whaling-voyages  from  Nantucket  and  New 
Bedford,  apprenticed  to  captains  or  owners,  many  of  whom  took 
a  great  personal  interest  in  the  lads.  Many  fine  sailors  and 
officers  were  thus  given  to  the  country,  who  from  time  to  time 
made  honorable  report  of  themselves  to  the  House.  Among 
others  was  Z.  B.  C.,  who  had  been  a  scholar  in  the  Mission 
Sunday-school  of  Mr.  Seaton,  then  and  still,  a  Public-school 
Superintendent.  His  father  was  an  intemperate  man ;  his 
mother  was  a  paying  boarder  in  the  Alms-house,  then  situ 
ated  on  what  is  now  Twenty-seventh  Street,  she  having  a  little 
property  left  to  her.  Z.  was  about  fifteen  years  of  age ;  he 
had  a  position  as  an  errand-boy,  but  fell  into  bad  company,  and 
into  the  habit  of  stealing.  He  was  finally  indentured  upon  a 
whale-ship  and  afterward  shipped  on  board  a  merchant-vessel, 
owned  in  London.  The  owner  was  an  alderman  of  that  city, 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  127 

Interesting  case  of  a  Sea-captain. 

and  took  quite  an  interest  in  Z.  He  soon  rose  to  the  position 
of  first  officer.  During  the  English  opium  war  with  China  he 
made  three  or  four  voyages  with  troops,  and  secured  to  himself 
a  comfortable  little  property.  He  wrote  to  Mr.  Seaton  to  learn 
about  his  mother,  intending  to  return  and  provide  for  her,  and 
in  a  corner  of  his  letter  he  turned  up  the  leaf  and  inscribed  the 
place — "  A  kiss  for  my  mother."  But  she  had  been  dead  seven 
years.  Mr.  Seaton  was  obliged  to  write  to  him  that  his  kiss 
came  seven  years  too  late.  Being  acquainted  with  Mr.  Bunch, 
the  respected  English  consul  in  New  York,  Mr.  Seaton  requested 
him,  through  some  friend,  to  make  inquiries  in  reference  to  the 
young  man.  He  wrote  to  Mr.  Baring,  of  the  great  banking  firm, 
who,  instead  of  delegating  the  matter  to  another,  went  himself 
and  made  personal  search  for  Z.  He  wrote  a  very  interesting 
letter  in  return,  saying  that  he  found  him  to  be  a  most  worthy 
young  man,  bearing  an  excellent  character.  Z.  afterward  visited 
Mr.  Seaton  in  the  city,  and  bore  himself  with  great  modesty  and 
propriety.  He  brought  with  him  a  handsome  painting  of  his 
ship,  which  is  still  hanging  upon  the  wall  in  the  parlor  of  his 
old  friend.  He  had  then  accumulated  a  fortune  equal  to  his 
moderate  desires. 

Of  the  efficiency  of  the  system  of  instruction  and  discipline, 
now  well  developed  and  in  successful  operation  in  the  House, 
Messrs.  Beaumont  and  De  Tocqueville,  as  the  result  of  their 
examination,  say:  u  Now,  what  results  have  been  obtained? 
Is  the  system  of  these  establishments  conducive  to  reform? 
And  are  we  able  to  support  the  theory  by  statistical  numbers  ? 
If  we  consider  merely  the  system  itself,  it  seems  difficult  not  to 
allow  its  efficiency.  If  it  be  possible  to  obtain  moral  reforma 
tion  for  any  human  being,  it  seems  that  we  ought  to  expect  it 


128      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITII  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Beaumont  and  De  Tocqueville. 

for  these  youths,  whose  misfortune  was  caused  less  by  crime 
than  by  inexperience,  and  in  whom  all  the  generous  passions  of 
youth  may  be  excited.  With  a  criminal,  whose  corruption  is 
inveterate  and  deeply  rooted,  the  feeling  of  honesty  is  not 
awakened,  because  the  sentiment  is  extinct ;  with  a  youth  this 
feeling  exists,  though  it  has  not  yet  been  called  into  action.  It 
seems  to  us,  therefore,  that  the  system  which  corrects  evil  dis 
positions  and  inculcates  correct  principles,  which  gives  a  protec 
tor  and  a  profession  to  him  who  has  none,  habits  of  order  and 
labor  to  the  vagrant  and  beggar  whom  idleness  had  corrupted, 
elementary  instruction  and  religious  principles  to  the  child  whose 
education  had  been  neglected ;  it  seems  to  us,  we  say,  that  a 
similar  system  must  be  fertile  of  beneficial  effects.  .  .  .  Being 
desirous  of  ascertaining  ourselves  the  effects  produced  by  the 
House  of  Refuge  in  New  York,  we  made  a  complete  analysis  of 
the  great  register  of  conduct,  and,  examining  separately  the  page 
of  each  child  who  had  left  the  Refuge,  investigated  wrhat  had 
been  its  conduct  since  its  return  into  society." 

The  translator,  Dr.  Lieber,  here  remarks  in  a  note :  "  All 
materials  which  could  be  of  any  use  to  us  in  this  inquiry  have 
been  put  at  our  disposal  with  the  greatest  kindness  ;  and,  as  we 
found  ourselves  in  possession  of  original  materials,  we  were 
enabled  to  form  an  exact  opinion  upon  the  conduct  of  all  chil 
dren  after  they  had  left  the  Refuge.  Our  inquiry  extended  to 
all  the  children  that  had  been  admitted." 

The  French  report  goes  on  to  say :  u  Of  four  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  male  juvenile  offenders  sent  back  into  society, 
eighty-five  have  conducted  themselves  well,  and  the  conduct  of 
forty-one  has  been  excellent.  Of  thirty -four  the  information  re 
ceived  is  bad ;  and  of  twenty-four,  very  bad.  Of  thirty-seven 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  129 

Statistics  of  Reform.— Charles  Peterson. 

among  them,  the  information  is  doubtful;  of  twenty-four,  rather 
good  than  otherwise  ;  and  of  fourteen,  rather  bad  than  good. 
Of  eighty-six  girls  who  have  returned  into  society,  thirty-seven 
have  conducted  themselves  well,  eleven  in  an  excellent  manner, 
twenty-two  bad,  and  sixteen  very  bad.  The  information  con 
cerning  ten  is  doubtful ;  three  seem  to  have  conducted  themselves 
rather  well,  and  three  rather  bad  than  otherwise.  Thus  of  five 
hundred  and  thirteen  children  who  have  returned  from  the 
House  of  Refuge,  of  New  York,  into  society,  more  than  two 
hundred  have  been  saved  from  infallible  ruin,  and  have  changed 
a  life  of  disorder  and  crime  for  one  of  honesty  and  order."  * 

This  examination  embraced  the  period  of  the  first  five  or  six 
years.  The  processes  of  discipline  were  then  new  and  experi 
mental  ;  the  first  subjects  were  many  of  them  very  mature  both 
in  years  and  crime ;  the  first  accommodations  were  poor;  the 
officers  had  enjoyed  no  previous  training  for  their  work ;  and 
the  time  was  not  long  enough  to  discover  what  would  be  the 
final  choice  of  these  young  persons,  or  how  strong,  and  redeem 
ing,  after  all,  the  influences  of  the  Refuge  would  prove.  It  has 
constantly  occurred,  that  after  a  fall  into  temptation  •  and  a 
course  of  wrong- doing,  the  conscience,  which  has  been  awakened 
in  the  House,  has  lashed  the  fallen  youth  back  again  into  the 
paths  of  duty  and  virtue. 

On  April  23,  1830,  a  large  boy,  named  Charles  Peterson, 
seventeen  years  of  age,  was  committed  to  the  Refuge,  and  after 
a  year's  training  was  indentured,  but  left  his  place  and  returned 
to  the  House.  Some  time  after  this  he  induced  a  number  of  the 
boys  to  join  him  in  a  conspiracy  to  attack  the  teachers  and  break 
away  from  the  institution.  He  led  off  with  a  razor,  but  the  oth~ 

"  On  the  Penitentiary  System  in  the  United  States,"  p.  123. 
9 


130      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Results  from  1841  to  '51.— Eev.  E.  M.  P.  Wells. 

ers  did  not  follow  him.  He  wounded  Mr.  Terry,  who  was  then 
assistant  superintendent,  so  severely,  that  his  life  was  thought  at 
first  to  be  in  danger.  Two  other  officers  were  badly  cut.  He 
was  tried  for  assault  with  an  intent  to  kill,  and  sentenced  to  ten 
years  in  Sing  Sing.  The  papers  of  the  day  were  very  severe 
upon  the  young  man,  and  rejoiced  that  a  place  for  which  he  was 
much  better  qualified  than  a  House  of  Refuge,  stood  ready  to 
receive  him.  But  the  Abounded  officers  had  not  utterly  lost  their 
labors  upon  even  this  violent  young  man.  During  his  confine 
ment  in  the  State  Prison,  he  was  penitent,  well-behaved,  and 
expressed  a  hope  that  he  had  become  a  better  man.  Eleven 
years  after  he  left  the  House  of  Refuge  he  was  heard  from,  as 
well  married,  a  member  of  a  Christian  church,  and  doing  well. 

The  ten  years,  between  1841  and  '51,  were  afterward  taken 
in  the  same  way,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  managers,  and  every 
case  was  carefully  examined.  The  result  was,  that  of  the  boys, 
seven  out  of  every  ten  were  found  to  be  living  an  honest  and 
self-supporting  life  ;  the  statistics  of  the  girls  were  not  quite  as 
favorable,  but  did  not  fall  far  short  of  this. 

The  succeeding  year  after  the  opening  of  the  New  York 
institution  (1826),  a  similar  Refuge  was  established  in  Boston, 
and  called  the  House  of  Reformation.  Rev.  E.  M.  P.  Wells, 
then  a  young  Episcopal  clergyman,  was  the  first  superintendent, 
and  to  his  extraordinary  skill  and  magnetic  power  in  the  man 
agement  of  boyg,  its  remarkable  success  with  its  inmates  during 
his  administration  was  to  be  largely  attributed.  While  in  the 
New- York  House  the  inmates  were  separated  at  night,  in  the 
Boston  House  they  were  separated  neither  day  nor  night.  Upon 
this  the  report  from  which  we  have  quoted  remarks :  "  We 
have  not  noticed  that  in  this  "  (the  Boston)  "  House  of  Refuge 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  131 

Discipline  of  Boston  House  of  Beformation. 

any  disadvantage  results  from  their  sleeping  together  ;  but  their 
danger  is,  in  our  opinion,  not  the  less,  and  it  is  avoided  in  Bos 
ton  only  by  a  zeal  and  vigilance  altogether  extraordinary,  which 
it  would  be  a  mistake  to  expect  in  general  from  persons  the 
most  devoted  to  their  duties."  The  discipline  of  the  Boston 
House  was  peculiar  and  somewhat  complicated,  but  readily 
managed  and  pervaded  with  the  enthusiasm  of  the  man  whose 
influence  was  felt  in  every  department.  The  child's  admission 
into  the  House  was  attended  with  peculiar  ceremonies.  "  The 
establishment  formed  a  small  society  upon  the  model  of  society 
at  large.  In  order  to  be  received  into  it,  it  was  not  only 
necessary  to  know  its  laws  and  to  submit  to  them  freely,  but 
also  to  be  received  as  a  member  of  the  society  by  all  those  who 
compose  it  already.  The  reception  took  place  after  the  individ 
ual  had  gone  through  the  fixed  period  of  trial,  if  the  candidate 
was  not  rejected  by  a  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  little  members 
composing  this  interesting  society."  The  whole  discipline  was 
conducted  much  after  the  same  manner.  The  translator  of  the 
French  report  remarks  that  the  system  appeared  to  him  "•  to  be 
planned  with  great  wisdom,  and  to  be  executed  with  a  profound 
knowledge  of  the  human  soul ;  ...  it  appeared  to  us  one  of 
the  most  peculiar,  most  interesting,  and  most  heart-cheering  sub 
jects  which,  in  all  our  travels,  has  ever  come  to  our  knowl 
edge,  and  which  must  be  seen  and  personally  inquired  into,  in 
order  to  be  perfectly  understood.  We  know  of  no  instructor 
who  has  seen  deeper  into  the  human  heart,  and  knows  more 
thoroughly  what  principles  in  the  human  soul  he  safely  may 
apply,  than  Mr.  "Wells." 

In  reference  to  all  these  elaborate  systems,  depending  for 
their  efficiency  entirely  upon  one  person  of  peculiar  ingenuity, 


132      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 


Criticism  of  Baaumont  and  De  Tocqueville. 


however  pleasant  they  may  be  to  look  upon,  the  remarks  of  Beau 
mont  and  De  Tocqueville,  comparing  the  New  York  and  Boston 
systems,  are  full  of  wisdom.  "  The  system  pursued  in  New 
York,"  they  say,  "though  infinitely  less  remarkable,  is  perhaps 
better ;  not  that  the  Boston  House  does  not  appear  to  be  ad 
mirably  conducted  and  superior  to  the  other,  but  its  success 
seems  to  us  less  the  effect  of  the  system  itself  than  of  the  distin 
guished  man  who  puts  it  into  practice.  We  have  already  said 
that  the  great  defect  of  this  House  is,  that  the  children  sleep  to 
gether  ;  the  system,  moreover,  which  is  established  there  rests 
upon  an  elevated  theory,  which  could  not  be  always  perfectly 
understood ;  and  its  being  put  into  practice  would  cause  great 
difficulties  if  the  superintendent  should  not  find  immense  re 
sources  in  his  own  mind  to  triumph  over  them.  In  New  York, 
on  the  contrary,  the  theory  is  simple.  The  isolation  during  night, 
the  classification  during  day,  the  labor,  the  instruction — every 
thing  in  such  an  order  of  things,  is  easily  understood.  It  neither 
requires  a  profound  genius  to  invent  such  a  system,  nor  a  con 
tinual  effort  to  maintain  it.  To  sum  up  the  whole,  the  Boston 
discipline  belongs  to  a  species  of  ideas  much  more  elevated  than 
that  established  in  New  York ;  but  it  is  difficult  in  practice. 
The  system  of  the  latter  establishment,  founded  upon  a  theory 
much  more  simple,  has  the  merit  of  being  within  the  reach  of 
all  the  world.  It  is  possible  to  find  superintendents  who  are  fit 
for  this  system,  but  we  cannot  hope  to  meet  often  with  such 
men  as  Mr.  Wells."  The  good  sense  of  these  gentlemen 
has  been  confirmed  by  later  facts.  With  the  resignation  of 
Mr.  Wells  his  system  fell  to  the  ground,  and  Boston  has  no 
reformatory  where  his  plans  of  discipline  are  carried  out ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Hart  has  been  followed  by  four 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  133 

Philadelphia  House.— The  Inner  Mission. 

very  different  men,  who  have,  in  succession,  had  the  charge 
of  the  House  of  Refuge.  The  numbers  of  the  inmates  have 
been  constantly  increasing.  The  difficulties  and  responsibilities 
of  the  position  of  superintendent  have  been,  from  the  nature  of 
things,  greatly  enhanced ;  still  the  institution,  without  changing 
its  simple  form  of  discipline,  has  increased  from  year  to  year  in 
its  efficiency,  and  its  records  show  that  it  has  gained  in  moral 
power  also. 

The  Philadelphia  House  of  Refuge  was  opened  in  1828,  upon 
the  same  plan  as  the  New- York  House,  and  has  continued  its 
work  with  most  encouraging  success  from  that  day  to  this.  Its 
numbers,  however,  are  only  about  half  as  large  as  those  of  its 
elder  brother,  and  it  has  separated  into  a  different  department 
its  colored  children.  The  managers,  who  have  kept  careful 
records  of  their  inmates,  reported  at  the  convention  of  1857  that 
from  sixty  to  seventy  per  cent,  of  their  children  were  hopefully 
reformed  by  the  discipline  of  the  House. 

On  the  8th  of  October,  1832,  a  young  candidate  for  the 
Christian  ministry  met,  at  the  house  of  a  schoolmaster  in  the 
German  city  of  Hamburg,  a  number  of  friends,  who,  like  him 
self,  were  "  richer  in  faith  and  love  than  in  silver  and  gold." 
A  home- missionary  society  was  formed,  called  the  "  Inner  Mis 
sion,"  the  influence  of  which,  although  its  commencement  was 
so  humble,  is  now  felt  throughout  Germany.  "  If  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ,"  said  these  men  of  faith  and  earnest  purpose,  "  is 
again  to  be  established  in  our  city,  it  is  necessary  among  other 
things  to  found  a  house  for  the  sole  object  of  rescuing  the  chil 
dren  from  sin  and  disbelief."  Though  without  money  or  in 
fluence,  they  solemnly  promised  one  another  to  give  themselves 
no  rest  until  their  object  should  be  accomplished. 


134      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Dr.  Wichern.— The  Rauhe  Hans. 

In  November,  1833,  through  the  aid  of  providential  gifts 
bestowed  upon  them,  the  leading  spirit  of  this  Society,  J.  II. 
Wichern  (now  Dr.  Wichern),  with  his  mother,  entered  into  a 
large,  old  cottage  upon  a  very  rough  farm  which  had  been 
secured,  and  drew  around  him  from  the  lowest  haunts  of  vice 
and  misery  twelve  of  the  worst  boys  of  Hamburg.  Here  they 
were  taught  wholesome  learning,  the  truths  of  the  Gospel,  and 
honest  labor,  by  Wichern  himself.  This  was  an  unquestioned 
family  institution.  Here  were  the  house-father  and  house 
mother — the  beloved  mother  of  the  doctor  and  of  the  chil- 
*dren — and  here  was  only  an  ordinary  family  circle  in  size,  differ 
ing  from  others  at  first,  indeed,  in  the  amazing  depravity  of  the 
youths  thus  brought  into  an  unwonted  atmosphere  of  love  and 
purity.  The  effect  could  but  have  been,  as  it  proved,  salutary 
in  the  highest  degree.  Either  from  the  name  of  a  former  owner, 
or  from  the  ungainly  appearance  at  the  first  of  the  straggling- 
old  cottage,  forming  their  afterward  well-beloved  home,  they 
called  it  the  JRauhe  Haus,  the  rough  house.  Liefde,  in  his  inter 
esting  work,  "  The  Charities  of  Europe,"  gives  another  deriva 
tion  of  the  name.  The  house,  he  says,  was  built  a  hundred 
years  before,  by  a  Mr.  Huge,  and  it  had  since  been  called 
"  Ruge's  house  ;  "  but  as  the  Platt-Deutsch  or  Saxon  word  ruge 
is  the  same  as  the  English  rough  and  the  Dutch  ruig,  it  was 
translated  by  the  corresponding  German  word  rauhe.  Mr. 
Ruge  himself,  however,  was  as  little  of  a  rough  fellow  as  could 
well  be  imagined. 

From  time  to  time  other  cheap  houses,  more  or  less  con 
venient  for  the  accommodation  of  the  same  limited  number  of 
inmates,  some  for  boys  and  some  for  girls,  were  constructed, 
until  quite  a  considerable  little  village,  with  its  church,  school- 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  135 

Outline  of  Dr.  Wichern's  System. 

house,  and  workshops,  grew  up  in  a  garden  of  fruits  and  flowers, 
redeemed  from  the  rough  weed-sown  fields. 

All  the  time  the  children  were  being  trained,  another  work 
was  going  on-,  which  is  constantly  overlooked  in  this  country, 
when  this  admirable  experiment  for  the  redemption  of  the  most 
wretched  children  is  spoken  of.  The  great  work  of  the  "  Inner 
Mission  "  was  prosecuted  at  the  same  time.  The  house-fathers, 
teachers,  shop-overseers,  are  all  young  candidates  for  the  home- 
missionary  work  throughout  the  city  and  country.  They  offer 
their  invaluable,  devoted,  and  pious  services  for  no  other  remu 
neration  than  their  board  and  the  training  which  they  receive  for 
their  future  and  more  extended  labors. 

Each  family  has  in  its  home  a  number  of  these  elder  brothers 
pursuing  their  OAvn  education,  and  devoting  themselves  at  the 
same  time  to  the  instruction  and  reformation  of  the  poor  children 
that  have  been  gathered  into  the  charmed  circle  of  the  Rauhe 
Haus.  The  female  homes  are  as  carefully  and  fully  supplied 
with  devoted  Christian  women.  But  the  great  inspiring  heart 
of  the  whole  institution,  whose  pulsations  are  felt  by  every 
brother  and  every  inmate,  who  is  daily  met  in  the  chapel  and  in 
their  homes  and  shops,  is  the  beloved  Dr.  Wichern. 

"It  is  only  when  looked  at  in  connection  with  this  Inner 
Mission  scheme  of  Wichern's,  that  the  Rauhe  Haus  Brother 
hood  can  be  properly  understood.  Its  foundation  was  the  solu 
tion  of  the  difficult  problem  how  to  form  a  band  of  well-trained, 
able  Gospel  laborers,  who,  while  inspired  by  free.  Christian 
charity,  would  submit  to  the  various  conditions  which  the  Inner 
Mission,  according  to  Wichern's  plan,  wrould  impose  upon  them. 
These  were  to  be  content  with  the  humble  work  of  evangeliza 
tion  among  the  lower  classes ;  to  abstain  from  any  attempt  to 


136     A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE   DELINQUENTS. 
The  Protestant  Brotherhood. 

raise  or  conduct  a  free  religious  movement,  or  to  establish  an 
independent  mission  work  of  their  own  ;  to  place  themselves  at 
the  service  of  the  Government,  of  the  clergy,  or  of  whoever 
should  want  them,  without  claiming  any  other  title  than  that 
of  being  the  servants  of  these  parties  for  Christ' ti  sake,  or  any 
other  privilege  than  that  of  being  permitted  to  do  the  work 
which  other  people  had  neither  time  nor  fancy  for.  It  is  obvi 
ous  that  men  of  this  kind,  who  would  submit  to  such  restrictions, 
are  to  be  found  chiefly  among  the  artisan  and  peasant  class, 
which  is  nearest  to  the  lowest,  and,  respectable  though  it  be,  is 
accustomed  to  live  in  the  service  of  others.  .  .  .  It  is  clear 
that  to  make  up  for  their  loss  of  liberty,  and  to  guard  them 
against  the  spirit  of  servility,  which  so  easily  creeps  into  the 
souls  of  men  who  are  kept  in  constant  subordination,  they  must 
be  united  into  a  brotherhood,  in  which,  through  mutual  Chris 
tian  fellowship  and  spiritual  rivalry,  strong  enthusiasm  would 
be  maintained  among  them  for  their  work,  and  high  respect  for 
their  right  of  membership  in  such  a  body."  * 

It  was  this  Protestant  brotherhood,  which  Wichern  himself 
trained  for  the  work,  supported  by  missionary  funds,  that  afford 
ed  him  the  efficient  assistants  which  he  has  always  enjoyed  in 
his  great  work.  As  the  elder  brothers  left  for  responsible  posi 
tions  in  the  home-mission  work  in  various  parts  of  Europe, 
other  young  candidates,  eager  for  the  opportunity  to  secure  the 
theological  and  practical  training  of  this  most  singular  but  ad 
mirable  theological  school,  would  offer  themselves  for  the  work. 
For  four  or  five  years  the  children  are  retained  under  this 
remarkable  training,  until  the  boys  have  become  perfectly  versed 
in  some  trade,  and  are  prepared  at  once  to  enter  as  journeymen 

"  The  Chanties  of  Europe,"  by  Liefde. 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  137 

Numbers  of  Inmates  limiteTl. — Surveillance  over  the  Indentured. 

into  the  chosen  business  of  their  lives.  A  large  amount  of 
profitable  work,  such  as  printing  and  bookbinding,  is  done  at  the 
institution,  going  far  toward  meeting  its  own  expenses.  The 
proportion  of  the  children  redeemed  from  their  evil  habits  under 
such  discipline  is,  probably,  very  large ;  but  in  twenty  years 
only  about  two  hundred  children  have  been  sent  out,  as  supposed 
to  be  reformed. — an  average  often  a  year. 

Scarcely  any  impression  would  be  made  by  so  limited  an 
institution  upon  the  juvenile  crime  of  a  great  city.  Thousands 
would  go  down  to  ruin  while  one  was  being  saved.  It  was 
Wichern's  idea  that  he  should  be  able,  with  God's  blessing,  to 
establish  the  practicability  of  efforts  for  the  regeneration  of 
abandoned  children,  which  others  would  follow,  and  that  nu 
merous  similar  houses  of  redemption  would  spring  up  all  over 
the  land.  And  this  expectation  has  been  realized. 

One  very  important  element  of  the  success  of  Wichern's  sys 
tem  ought  not  to  be  overlooked.  Pie  remarks,  in  his  report  for 
1843  :  "  Our  surveillance  of  those  who  have  left  us  is  in  no  respect 
altered.  It  is  no  police  superintendence,  but  a  paternal  over 
sight,  exercised  by  the  writer  of  this  report,  in  cooperation  with 
the  resident  brothers.  If  necessary,  we  visit  the  apprentices  at 
their  masters'  houses  weekly,  but  in  the  ordinary  way  only  once 
a  fortnight ;  and  every  fortnight  I  assemble  them  on  Sunday 
afternoon  or  evening  in  summer  at  the  institution,  in  winter  in 
the  town.  When  on  Good  Friday  seventy  of  us  celebrated  the 
Lord's  Supper,  there  were  among  the  number  all  our  apprenticed 
pupils  but  one,  who  was  hindered  by  no  fault  of  his  own.  It  is 
not  to  be  expected  that  among  so  many  young  people  no  dis 
orders  should  arise  ;  but  a  whole  month  frequently  passes  with 
out  any  complaints  of  the  apprentices  ;  and  when  such  do  occur 


138       A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Effect  of  a  Change  of  Assistants. 

they  are  mostly  of  such  faults  as  are  common  among  all  ap 
prentices." 

How  much,  even  with  his  presence,  depended  upon  the 
character  of  his  assistants,  appears  from  his  report  in  1838. 
6;  A  change  of  assistants  has  caused  much  difficulty.  The 
superintendent  of  the  girls'  house  had  left,  and  her  place  was 
not  immediately  supplied.  The  old  sin  quickly  reappeared 
among  them,  with  a  few  consolatory  exceptions.  All  our  regu 
lations,  and  the  efforts  of  three  plain  tradesmen's  wives,  selected 
one  after  the  other  to  superintend  them,  proved  unavailing.  The 
utmost  that  could  be  attained  was  superficial  decorum,  which 
might  have  partially  deceived  me,  had  I  not  lived  so  entirely 
among  the  children.  The  girls'  department  was  like  a  garden 
from  which  the  care  of  the  gardener  had  been  withdrawn. 
Among  other  bad  symptoms,  were  the  gradual  cessation  of 
songs,  before  so  frequent ;  and  the  extinction  of  all  interest  in 
God's  Word." 

The  effect  of  such  a  change  upon  the  boys  seems  to  have 
been  even  more  serious.  Such  a  result  from  the  regular  and 
simple  character  of  the  discipline  of  the  New- York  House, 
although  officers  are  constantly  exchanged,  is  never  witnessed. 
"  Hypocrisy  and  mutual  accusations  are  other  features  of  the 
picture,  which  became  daily  more  gloomy.  Frivolity,  shame- 
lessness,  grievous  ingratitude,  audacious  perverseness,  excessive 
laziness,  strife,  and  ill-nature,  were  the  mere  ordinary  manifesta 
tions  of  the  inward  evil.  A  certain  satiety  of  bodily  food  even, 
no  less  than  the  bread  of  life,  prevailed,  and  we  tried  the  ex 
periment  of  enforced  abstinence  from  both.  The  experiment 
succeeded  to  a  great  extent  witli  a  considerable  number,  but 
only  temporarily.  The  crisis  had  not  yet  arrived.  Several 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  139 

Evil  of  a  Complicated  System. 

attempts  at  escape,  false  accusations,  and  a  series  of  offences  of 
the  most  scandalous  character,  gradually  drew  attention  to  two 
boys  as  the  principal  authors  of  the  mischief.  One,  nineteen 
years  old,  had  for  three  years  abused  our  patience  ;  the  other  had 
been  four  years  with  us.  Both  finally  made  their  escape,  and 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  police.  From  this  time  our  community 
gradually  recovered  its  moral  health."  Such  an  experience  is 
unparalleled,  certainly  in  the  last  ten  years  of  the  New-York 
House. 

The  same  remark  that  was  made  in  the  French  report  of  the 
plan  of  Mr.  Wells,  may  be  made  of  this — only  "Wichern  can 
efficiently  manage  its  very  complicated  details.  It  would  be  a 
vain  hope  to  expect  its  marked  success,  without  the  aid  of  its 
body  of  trained  and  devoted  assistants.  It  could  only  be  worked 
with  us  when  it  naturally,  from  a  very  small  beginning,  should 
grow  up  around  a  magnetic  man  whose  whole  soul  and  life  were 
consecrated  to  the  work  of  juvenile  reform.  State  and  city  insti 
tutions  modelled  upon  such  a  basis,  in  our  country,  with  such 
officers  as  we  can  secure,  would  certainly  sacrifice  all  the  bene 
fits  of  a  large  institution  with  a  simpler  system,  as  to  economy, 
regularity  of  discipline,  and  organized  labor,  without  gaining  the 
subduing  and  winning  power  of  the  family  tie  over  the  individ 
ual  inmate.  The  true  family  reform  school,  with  us,  can  only 
be  the  voluntary  movement  of  one  man,  inspired  with  a  passion 
for  this  work,  aided,  in  a  pecuniary  way,  by  others,  and  receiv 
ing,  perhaps,  a  small  subsidy  from  the  State  ;  gathering  under 
his  own  roof  and  within  the  influence  of  his  wife,  as  well  as  him 
self,  a  limited  number  of  these  outcast  children  to  educate  and 
train  to  labor.  There  cannot  be  too  many  of  such  institutions. 

Mrs.  Carpenter  says,  in  her  instructive  work  upon  juvenile 


140      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 


Small  Institutions  are  not  Families. 


delinquents  :  "  Such  schools  or  asylums,  to  effect  the  desired 
end,  must  be  under  the  guidance  of  enlightened  Christian  be 
nevolence,  sanctioned  and  mainly  supported  by  government  in 
spection  and  aid.  Since  it  is  absolutely  impossible  that  a 
government,  as  such,  can  secure  such  guidance  for  these  estab 
lishments,  voluntary  effort  must  be  mainly  looked  to  for  the 
infusion  of  the  true  reformatory  element  into  these  asylums, 
and  therefore  must  be  encouraged,  and,  as  far  as  possible, 
called  out  by  the  Legislature  ;  which,  granting  the  means  and 
the  authority  to  carry  out  the  work,  will  exercise  inspection  to 
ascertain  that  these  are  wisely  employed.  The  State  will  thus 
retain  the  authority  it  has  taken  from  the  parent,  in  conse 
quence  of  hia  neglect  of  duty,  and  will  place  the  charge  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  can  and  will  discharge  it  well." 

The  simple  breaking  up,  however,  of  a  large  reformatory 
into  a  dozen  houses,  with  an  entire  separation  of  the  sexes,  and 
a  purely  artificial  life,  would  create  no  more  of  a  feeling  of 
home  in  such  an  establishment,  than  the  placing  of  a  regiment 
of  soldiers  in  separate  barracks  for  each  company,  but  away 
from  mother,  wife,  or  sister,  would  give  to  them  a  livelier  home- 
feeling  than  when  dwelling  in  one  continued  block. 

The  whole  training  of  a  reformatory  must  be  exceptional  and 
temporary,  like  the  training  of  our  own  children  in  academies 
and  colleges.  We  insist,  properly  enough,  upon  parental  disci 
pline  there  ;  still  it  is  not  home  even  in  what  are  called  family 
schools,  but  pupils  arc  placed  for  months  in  somewhat  monastic 
seclusion,  to  prepare  for  the  life  before  them.  Thus,  after  a 
limited  period  of  training,  for  the  inculcation  of  good  principles 
and  the  establishment  of  correct  habits,  our  criminal  children  (as 
they  cannot  be  so  readily  in  Europe)  can  be  placed  in  the 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


Edward  Livingston  on  the  New-  York  House. 


actual  family;,  and  be  made  to  feel  all  the  natural  forces  of  a 
virtuous  home  drawing  them  in  the  right  direction.  The  simpler 
the  system,  and  the  shorter  the  period  required  in  the  reform 
atory,  the  greater  the  probability  that  it  will  be  properly  carried 
out,  and  the  better  it  will  be  for  the  child.  Classification  as 
to  age  and  character  may  be  very  properly  insisted  upon,  and 
can,  by  the  arrangement  of  halls,  be  even  more  thoroughly 
secured  in  a  large  than  in  a  small  institution. 

Of  the  impression  made  upon  thoughtful  men  by  the  results 
obtained,  even  in  its  early  years,  by  the  New-  York  House,  we 
need  only  quote  from  the  introductory  report  to  the  new  code 
of  prison  discipline,  prepared  by  Edward  Livingston,  for  the 
State  of  Louisiana.  Referring  to  his  plan  for  a  School  of  Re 
form,  he  says  :  "  In  establishing  it  I  have  been  guided  by  some 
thing  better  than  the  best  reasoning.  In  the  city  of  New  York 
there  is  an  establishment  of  this  kind  which  can  never  be  visited 
but  with  unmixed  emotions  of  intellectual  pleasure.  It  now  con 
tains  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  boys  and  twenty-nine  girls, 
for  the  most  part  healthy,  orderly,  obedient,  and  animated  with 
the  certain  prospect  of  becoming  useful  members  of  society, 
who,  but  for  this  establishment,  would  still  have  been  suffering 
under  the  accumulated  evils  attendant  on  poverty,  ignorance, 
and  the  lowest  depravity,  with  no  other  future  before  them  **• 
than  the  penitentiary  or  the  gallows.  I  ought  not  to  omit  men 
tioning  here,  that  the  female  department  is  superintended  by  a 
Visiting  Committee  of  ladies,  who,  at  regular  and  frequent 
periods,  examine  the  school,  converse  with  the  scholars,  encour 
age  the  diffident,  reprove  the  disorderly,  reward  the  industrious, 
and  inspire  all  with  their  own  virtues.  The  code  I  submit  in 
vites  a  similar  superintendence,  from  which  the  highest  ad- 


142      A  HALF  CENTUHY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Growing  Success  of  the  Experiment. 

vantages,  such  as  nothing  but  the  benign  influence  of  female 
character  can  give,  are  expected.  .  .  .  Twenty-eight  boys  and 
fifteen  girls  have  been  indentured,  and  the  most  favorable  ac 
counts  have  been  received  of  their  behavior.  Two  having 
suffered  what  they  thought  ill-usage  from  their  masters,  left 
them  and  returned  to  the  school,  and  only  one  has  resumed  his 
former  bad  habits,  /"what  renders  the  reformation  of  these 
children  the  more  extraordinary  is,  that  thirty  of  them  had 
before  been  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  from  one  to  five  dif 
ferent  times." 

The  sixth  annual  report,  offered  in  1831,  opens  with  cheer 
ful  views  of  the  growing  success  of  the  experiment.  "  The 
short  history,"  it  says,  "  of  our  establishment  has  proved  that  it 
is  possible  to  convert  juvenile  thieves  and  vagrants,  gamblers 
and  pickpockets,  the  most  profane  and  abandoned,  into  honest 
farmers,  good  sailors,  engineers,  and  faithful  mechanics.  It  has 
also  proved  that  a  House  of  Refuge,  while  it  effects  these  salu 
tary  changes  in  the  character  of  its  subjects,  is  nevertheless  a 
house  of  improvement.  It  has  thus  gained  for  itself  a  name  in 
the  community,  well  known  throughout  the  various  ranks  of 
juvenile  depravity.  Its  name  imposes  a  wholesome  terror  upon 
disobedient  and  vicious  youth ;  and  it  appears  evident  to  the 
managers,  from  the  small  number  of  commitments  which  they 
"now  receive  from  the  city  Police  and  the  Court  of  Sessions,  com 
pared  with  those  of  the  commissioners  of  the  Almshouse,  that 
the  influence  of  the  Refuge  is  highly  auspicious  to  the  peace  of 
the  city  and  the  security  of  our  dwellings."  How  true  is  their 
next  remark ;  and  how  much  light  upon  the  great  question  of 
crime,  its  causes  and  its  cure,  the  efforts  of  the  friends  of  juve 
nile  reform  have  thrown  !  "  It  is  an  institution  also,"  they  say, 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  143 

Letter  from  Rev.  David  Terry. 

"  which,  with  other  concomitant  circumstances,  enables  its  man 
agers  to  trace  to  their  earliest  effects  the  causes  of  those  crimes 
which,  in  their  punishment,  occasion  to  the  municipal  and  State 
governments  so  heavy  an  expense  of  time,  and  labor,  and  tax 
ation  ;  and  it  must  be  by  a  judicious  attention  to  facts,  thus  de 
veloped,  that  the  criminal  laws  of  a  country  can  be  made  to 
approximate  the  most  nearly  to  a  perfect  system  of  prevention 
and  cure." 

One  cannot  read  the  concluding  pages  of  all  the  reports,  con 
taining  selections  from  the  incidents  in  connection  with  former 
inmates,  which  have  come,  during  the  year,  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  officers  of  the  House,  without  a  feeling  of  astonishment  and 
gratitude  combined.  From  the  very  depths  of  degradation 
children  were  raised  to  become  useful  and  beloved  members 
of  society.  In  1832,  Rev.  David  Terry,  a  Methodist  clergy 
man,  who  was  afterward  a  teacher  in  the  Refuge,  and  finally 
succeeded  Mr.  Hart  as  superintendent,  in  writing  to  a  friend  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  he  being  himself  at  that  time  in  the 
country,  says  :  "  Please  tell  Mr.  Hart  that  E.  F.  and  G-.  H.  are 
living  in  the  circuit  that  I  travel.  I  saw  E.  F.  with  his  master  ; 
he  was  dressed  like  a  gentleman.  G.  H.  is  all  alive  in  religion, 
and  I  understand  is  very  gifted — that  is,  he  exhibits  superior 
talents  for  a  boy  of  his  years."  This  boy,  Mr.  Hart  says,  was 
brought  up  in  the  most  dissolute  part  of  the  city  (the  Five 
Points).  His  mother  kept  a  brothel,  and  the  child  was  suf 
fered  to  run  about  the  streets  without  restraint.  As  he  was 
active  and  cunning  and  had  a  pleasant  address,  he  became  the 
successful  leader  of  a  band  of  little  thieves.  While  in  the  Ref 
uge,  he  became  very  much  interested  in  religious  things,  and 
gave  remarkable  evidence,  for  a  boy  of  his  years,  of  the  work 


144      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 


Sir  H.  L.  Bulwer's  Opinion  of  the  House. 


of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  his  heart.  As  his  past  life  had  been  so 
perverted,  it  was  thought  advisable  that  he  should  have  a  long 
probation  in  the  House,  although  the  love  the  officers  felt  for 
him,  and  his  amiable  temper,  recommended  him  to  the  superin 
tendent  and  managers  as  a  suitable  subject  for  discharge  to  a 
proper  home.  After  remaining  over  a  year  in  the  Refuge,  he 
was  placed  in  a  religious  family  in  the  country.  Grood  accounts 
had  come  from  him  from  time  to  time,  and  now  Mr.  Terry's  let 
ter  confirmed  the  confidence  they  had  felt  that  the  Refuge  had 
left  a  powerful  and  permanent  impression  upon  him. 

These  incidents  fully  justify  the  opinion  of  Sir  H.  L.  Bulwer 
(who  was  the  English  minister  in  this  country  from  1849  to 
1852),  expressed  in  a  work  which  he  published  at  that  time: 
"  There  are  institutions  in  America  where  the  experiment  of 
instruction  is  made  not  merely  on  the  boy  whom  you  wish  to 
bring  up  in  virtue,  but  on  the  boy  who  has  already  fallen  into 
the  paths  of  vice  ;  and,  singular  to  say,  the  education  given  in 
the  Houses  of  Refuge  to  the  young  delinquents  produces  an  effect 
upon  them  which  education  does  not  in  general  produce  upon 
society.  Why  is  this?  Because  the  education  in  these  houses 
is  a  moral  education ;  because  its  object  is  not  merely  to  load 
the  memory,  but  to  elevate  the  soul,  to  improve  and  to  form  the 
character.  '  Do  not  lie  !  and  do  as  well  as  you  can ' !  Such 
are  the  simple  words  with  which  these  children  are  admitted 
into  these  institutions." 

It  would  be  a  natural  fear  that  the  Refuge  would  leave  a 
prison-stain  upon  the  character  and  on  the  consciousness  of  the 
inmates  which  would  occasion  a  sense  of  humiliation  in  after- 
years,  when  filling  honorable  positions  in  life.  Experience  has 
shown  that  anxiety  in  this  respect  is  uncalled  for.  A  young 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  145 

The  Refuge  leaves  no  Stain  upon  the  Character. 

merchant  of  the  city,  some  time  since,  brought  his  wife  to  the 
House.  He  had  lived  some  years  after  his  discharge  in  Canada, 
where  he  married  ;  the  young  lady  was  well  educated,  and  had 
a  very  pleasing  address.  After  going  through  the  institution, 
she  was  asked  what  she  thought  of  it :  "  It  must  be  an  excellent 
place,"  she  said,  "  if  my  husband  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  men 
it  sends  out." 

.  A  lady  and  gentleman,  connected  with  the  same  church  in 
New  York,  crossed  in  the  boat  together.  A  little  son  of  the 
lady  was  in  the  House,  and  as  the  gentleman  was  an  officer  in 
the  Sunday-school  where  he  had  attended,  she  felt  rather  nerv 
ous  at  the  idea  of  his  discovering  the  fact  that  her  child  was  now 
in  the  Refuge.  She  sat  some  time  in  the  office,  talking  with  her 
friend,  hoping  he  would  soon  leave,  and  that  she  could  see  her 
boy  alone.  Finally,  wearied  with  waiting,  and  having  a  mother's 
longing  to  meet  her  child,  she  said:  "  I  do  not  know  what  you 
will  think  when  I  tell  you  that  I  have  my  little  boy  here." — "  I 
shall  think  he  is  in  a  good  place,  for  I  was  here  once  myself," 
was  the  very  surprising  and  very  comforting  answer. 

It  is  one  of  the  well-confirmed  incidents  of  the  House  that 
on  one  occasion,  after  a  gentleman  and  lady  had  passed  over 
the  different  departments  of  the  Refuge,  the  gentleman  turned  to 
his  companion,  who  was  also  his  wife,  and  said,  "  I  am  going 
to  tell  you  something  now  that  will  surprise  you — I  was  once  an 
inmate  here." — "  And  I  will  tell  you  something  that  will  sur 
prise  you,"  said  the  lady,  in  return  ;  a  I  also  was  once  an  inmate 
in  the  female  department." 

It  is  not  a  tradition  of  the  House  simply,  but  a  record  in  the 
daily  journal,  October  3,  1864,  that  "  H.  C.  R.,  and  his  wife, 

Mary  A.  C.,  visited  us.     They  were  both  formerly  inmates  and 
10 


146      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Young  Merchant.— Mr.  Maxwell's  Report. 

have  been  absent  from  the  House  for  several  years.  At  first 
they  were  in  different  localities,  but  about  a  year  and  a  half  ago 
fortune  favored,  and  they  concluded  to  form  a  partnership  for 
life.  They  are  a  sprightly  young  couple,  and  are  living  happily 
together  in  the  city  of  A.,  where  H.  C.  R.  is  doing  business  on 
his  own  account." 

The  writer  asked  a  young  merchant,  in  the  coal  and  wood 
business,  in  an  adjoining  city,  how  he  would  feel  if  it  should  be 
mentioned  to  the  clergyman  of  the  church  with  which  he  is 
connected,  and  who  is  a  personal  friend,  that  his  active  young 
parishioner  was  once  a  member  of  the  Refuge  congregation.  "I 
have  no  objection,"  was  the  answer,  "  my  character  is  estab 
lished,  and  I  cannot  be  harmed  ;  1  should  have  been  ruined  if 
my  father  had  not  sent  me  when  he  did  to  the  Refuge." 

Of  the  great  body  of  discharged  youths,  Hugh  Maxwell, 
Esq.,  says,  in  the  ninth  report  of  1833  :  "  We  claim  especially 
and  emphatically  that,  having  taken  these  children  from  the 
streets,  highways,  and  market-places,  and  having  instructed 
them,  we  have,  in  almost  every  instance,  bound  them  out  to 
respectable  individuals  who  have  taken  them  into  their  own 
dwellings,  and  placed  them  at  the  same  table  with  themselves 
and  their  children.  Previously  to  these  children  becoming  in 
mates  of  the  Refuge,  they  were  shunned — all  respectable  people 
avoided  them.  But  after  being  inmates  of  the  Refuge,  they  are 
sought  after  ;  the  farmer  and  the  mechanic  take  them  from  the  in 
stitution  in  preference  to  all  other  places  of  confinement ;  for  when 
a  convict  has  served  out  his  time  in  any  of  our  State  prisons, 
who  desires  to  employ  him?  Who  will  receive  him  into  their 
families?  If  the  fact  of  imprisonment  be  but  known,  no  matter 
what  his  conduct  while  in  prison,  nobody  is  willing  to  employ 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  147 

One  of  the  Carlo  Gang. 

him,  and  he  may,  and  no  doubt  frequently  does,  suffer  under 
temptation  and  want  consequent  on  the  above  fact,  almost  be 
yond  his  control,  and  leading  him  as  it  were  by  necessity  again 
to  adopt  his  former  vicious  courses.  This  misfortune  is  not 
attendant  on  our  youthful  subjects,  and  it  is  most  devoutly  to  be 
wished  that  such  provision,  if  possible,  may  be  made  as  will 
in  this  respect  improve  the  situation  of  discharged  convicts.  A 
discerning  public  seek  for  children  who  have  been  disciplined  in 
the  Refuge,  and  take  them  from  us  as  fast  as  we  can  provide 
for  them.  And  while  this  demand  for  children  from  the  Refuge 
exists,  is  it  not  to  be  regretted  that  a  single  child  should  be  per 
mitted  to  roam  at  large  in  delinquent  courses  until  he  becomes 
a  confirmed  criminal,  and  a  fit  subject  only  for  continued  im 
prisonment?" 

In  striking  confirmation  of  the  statement  of  Mr.  Maxwell, 
the  case  of  K.  L.  may  be  mentioned.  He  was  about  ten  years 
of  age  when  he  was  brought  to  the  Refuge  ;  he  had  lived  in 
Catherine  Lane  ;  his  father  was  a  drunkard,  and  had  deserted 
his  family.  He  was  one  of  the  three  white  members  of  a  gang 
of  ten  or  eleven  young  negroes  called  the  Carlo  Gang,  and  he 
bore  himself  the  singular  flasli  name  of  Ring-tail.  They  fre 
quently  started  in  pairs  in  the  morning  in  pursuit  of  booty  on 
which  they  principally  depended  for  support.  They  were  always 
on  the  lookout  when  a  vessel  was  unloading  old  copper,  lead, 
and  iron.  Their  thefts  of  this  description  commanded  a  ready 
market  at  the  junk-shops.  They  occasionally  broke  into  the 
windows  of  toy-shops,  and  found  an  Englishman  in  Anthony 
Street  who  would  purchase  their  ill-gotten  spoils.  Their  depre 
dations  were  often  serious  in  amount. 

When  the  boy  was  washed  and  clad  in  decent  garments,  all 


148      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Boarding-school  for  Poor  Children. 

were  struck  with  his  interesting  appearance.  He  did  not  know 
his  letters.  After  enjoying  the  instruction  and  discipline  of  the 
House  he  was  indentured  to  a  gentleman  in  Nantucket,  who 
had  received  several  boys  from  the  Refuge,  and  sent  them  to 

sea.    Of  K ,  however,  he  wrote  some  time  after  :  "  The  boy 

seems  so  nice  that  we  have  concluded  to  take  him  into  the  family, 
and  I  flatter  myself,  at  some  future  day,  he  will  be  a  useful 
member  in  society ;  at  any  rate,  if  not  prevented  by  his  own 
acts,  I  will  give  him  a  fair  opportunity." 

u  Y/ere  a  stranger  to  be  taken  into  the  Refuge  blindfolded," 
the  managers  remark  in  their  thirteenth  report,  "  without  pre 
vious  information  whither  he  was  going ;  were  he  to  visit  the 
schools  during  the  hours  of  instruction,  the  workshops  during 
the  hours  of  labor,  the  chapel  during  the  hours  of  worship  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  the  play-ground  during  the  hours  of  exercise 
and  recreation,  the  last  idea  that  probably  would  occur  to  him 
would  be  that  of  a  prison.  Nor,  while  watching  the  gambols 
of  the  children,  and  sympathizing  with  their  cheerful  hilarity 
when  at  play,  or  while  looking  in  upon  their  sedate  behavior  in 
the  school-room,  or  when  marking  their  grave  demeanor  in  the 
chapel,  and  perchance  mingling  his  own  voice  with  theirs  in 
hymning  their  Creator's  praise,  would  a  stranger  be  apt  to  sup 
pose  that  those  cleanly  and  healthy-looking  groups,  both  of  males 
and  females,  had  been  gathered  from  the  streets  and  highways 
of  the  city ;  from  the  abodes  of  rags,  and  wretchedness,  and 
crime.  In  one  word,  though  a  prison  to  a  certain  extent,  and 
for  certain  purposes,  the  Refuge  need  not  be  thus  considered 
further  than  as  a  house  of  reformation  ;  nor  can  it  be  better  or 
more  correctly  described  than  it  was  some  time  since  by  one  of 
its  inmates,  a  little  girl,  on  going  to  a  home  in  the  country 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  149 

Extraordinary  Health. — Singular  Case  of  Death. 

When  questioned  as  to  what  kind  of  a  place  the  House  of  Ref 
uge  was,  she  replied :  "  It  is  a  boarding-school  for  poor  chil 
dren."  Such,  in  fact  (with  manual  labor  added),  is  the  charac 
ter  in  which  it  is  the  desire  of  the  managers  it  should  be  viewed, 
as  well  by  its  inmates  as  by  their  friends. 

From  the  beginning  the  institution  has  been  favored  with  an 
extraordinary  degree  of  health — but  five  children  dying  in  the 
first  ten  years.  Death  did  not  enter  the  House  until  more  than 
three  years  fcad  passed  ;  and  this  first  case  was  of  so  singular  a 
nature  as  to  merit  record.  The  subject  was  a  boy,  seventeen 
years  of  age,  who,  in  a  fit  of  anger,  took  an  ounce  of  the  tincture 
of  cantharides,  supposing  it  to  be  laudanum.  He  soon  fell  into 
convulsions  of  the  most  violent  kind,  but  rallied  under  treatment, 
and  after  a  few  days  appeared  to  be  perfectly  well.  Singularly 
enough,  he  was  now  seized  with  a  strong  presentiment,  out  of 
which  he  could  not  be  reasoned,  that  he  should  die  on  the  suc 
ceeding  Sabbath.  He  fervently  exhorted  his  associates  to  reform 
their  lives,  expressing  contrition  for  his  own  sins,  and  trust  in 
the  Saviour  for  mercy.  His  convulsions  returned,  and  he  died 
on  the  day  he  predicted.  Quite  singular  physical  phenomena 
attended  his  last  hours  :  during  the  intervals  of  the  convulsions, 
and  after  they  had  ceased,  while  he  was  in  a  state  of  perfect 
insensibility  and  volition  entirely  suspended,  "  his  limbs  would 
retain,"  says  Dr.  Stearns  in  describing  the  case,  "  for  any  length 
of  time,  the  same  position  in  which  they  were  placed  by  any 
person  present.  If  they  were  placed  in  an  erect  or  horizontal, 
or  flexed  posture,  they  remained  so,  perfectly  motionless." 

The  prevailing  good  health  and  defence  from  malignant 
epidemics  are  to  be  attributed,  under  a  Divine  Providence,  to 
the  constant  sanitary  and  hygienic  suggestions  of  the  well- 


150       A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Dr.  Whittlesey.— Deaths  in  the  Hospital. 

known  eminent  men  who  yielded  their  valuable  services  to  the 
House  both  as  managers  and  physicians — Dr.  John  Stearns  and 
Dr.  Galen  Carter.  In  later  days,  with  larger  numbers,  the 
same  high  tone  of  health  has  been  secured  under  the  careful 
attendance  of  Dr.  H.  N.  Whittlesey.  When,  in  1832,  the 
cholera  swept  over  the  city  with  terrible  power,  and  the  hos 
pitals  lost  a  large  number  of  their  patients,  out  of  ninety-nine 
cases  in  the  Refuge  but  two  proved  fatal. 

The  death  of  children  is  always  affecting ;  but  some  of  the 
most  touching  scenes  that  the  writer  has  ever  witnessed  have 
occurred  in  the  hospitals,  when,  in  the  rare  instances  where 
disease  has  proved  fatal,  inmates  have  left  us  for  another  world. 
Whatever  anxiety  we  may  have  had  in  discharging  subjects  to 
homes  in  the  country  or  city  ;  the  gentle,  forgiving,  grateful,  pen 
itent,  and  devout  tempers  they  have  shown  in  the  dying  hour ; 
the  intelligent,  humble,  but  confident  trust  in  the  Saviour ;  the 
peaceful  and  even  cheerful  anticipation  of  the  final  moment ;  the 
affectionate  farewell,  mingled  with  a  thankful  sense  of  what  the 
Refuge  had  done  for  them,  have  removed  all  fears  in  reference 
to  them  and  the  life  upon  which  they  were  about  to  enter.  A 
short  time  before  her  death,  a  girl,  eighteen  years  of  age,  who 
had  shown  marked  results  of  the  religious  instructions  which 
she  had  received,  sinking  under  a  severe  form  of  typhoidal 
disease,  at  times  delirious,  broke  the  silence  of  the  hospital,  and 
brought  tears  to  all  eyes,  by  singing,  with  remarkable  distinct 
ness  and  pathos,  the  touching  lines  of  Watts  : 

"  When  I  survey  the  wondrous  cross 

On  which  the  Prince  of  Glory  died, 
My  richest  gain  I  count  but  loss, 
And  pour  contempt  on  all  my  pride." 


HON.  STEPHEN  ALLEN. 


p.  151. 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


Hon.  Stephen  Allen.—  Traits  of  Character. 


In  1832,  the  removal  of  Mr.  C.  D.  Colden  from  the  city 
occasioning  his  resignation  as  president  of  the  Board  of  Man 
agers,  Hon.  Stephen  Allen  was  elected  as  his  successor.  Mr. 
Allen  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Society  and  one  of  its  first 
vice-presidents.  He  was  a  successful  merchant  and  an  honored 
citizen,  sharing  largely  in  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  com 
munity.  He  was  elected  to  the  office  of  mayor  of  the  city,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature.  Interested  in  all  the 
public  improvements  of  the  day,  his  special  efforts  were  directed, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  this  Society,  to  the  reformation 
of  the  criminal  and  perilled  children  of  the  city.  He  remained 
its  president,  always  proverbially  prompt  and  vigorous  in  its 
executive  business,  for  a  period  of  twenty  years,  until  his 
lamented  death  in  1852.  It  is  one  of  the  well-preserved  tradi 
tions  of  the  Board,  that  he  always  called  its  members  to  order  on 
the  exact  moment  of  an  appointed  meeting.  If  a  quorum  un 
fortunately  "were  not  present,  he  would  adjourn  the  meeting,  and 
although  he  met  the  slightly  tardy  managers  upon  the  stairs,  he 
never  returned  upon  his  steps.  The  result  was  that  the  meetings 
of  the  Board  were  attended  with  remarkable  promptness,  and 
the  business  ^vas  considered  in  regular  order,  and  finished  with 
the  closeness  of  legislation  becoming  a  deliberative  body.  He 
was  one  of  tlie  victims  of  that  frightful  catastrophe  occurring 
that  year  upon,  the  Hudson  —  the  burning  of  the  steamer  Henry 
Clay. 

It  has  been  found,  when  the  secret  history  of  many  such  men 
has  been  revealed,  that  the  constancy  of  their  virtue  and  charity 
has  not  been  simply  a  natural  characteristic,  or  an  accident 
arising  out  of  their  circumstances.  In  the  pocket  of  Amos  Law 
rence,  a  copy  of  a  series  of  resolutions  for  the  government  of 


152      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Golden  Maxims  of  Mr.  Allen. 

his  life  and  temper  was  found,  and  it  had  evidently  been  often 
and  prayerfully  perused. 

When  the  body  of  Mr.  Allen,  then  a  venerable  man,  full  of 
years  and  honor,  beloved  and  esteemed  by  all  who  knew  him, 
was  recovered,  in  his  pocket  was  found  a  printed  slip,  of  which 
the  following  is  a  copy  :  "  Keep  good  company  or  none.  Never 
be  idle.  If  your  hands  cannot  be  usefully  employed,  attend  to 
the  cultivation  of  your  mind.  Always  speak  the  truth.  Make 
few  promises.  Live  up  to  your  engagements.  Keep  your  own 
secrets  if  you  have  any.  When  you  speak  to  a  person,  look  him 
in  the  face.  Good  company  and  good  conversation  are  the  very 
sinews  of  virtue.  Good  character  is  above  all  things  else.  Your 
character  cannot  be  essentially  injured,  except  by  your  own 
acts.  If  any  one  speaks  evil  of  you,  let  your  life  be  such  that 
no  one  will  believe  him.  Drink  no  kind  of  intoxicating  liquors. 
Ever  live  (misfortune  excepted)  within  your  income.  When 
you  retire  to  bed  think  over  what  you  have  been  doing  during 
the  day.  Make  no  haste  to  be  rich  if  you  would  prosper. 
Small  and  steady  gains  give  competency,  with  tranquillity  of 
mind.  Never  play  at  any  game  of  chance.  Avoid  temptation, 
through  fear  you  may  not  withstand  it.  Earn  money  before 
you  spend  it.  Never  run  into  debt  unless  you  see  a  way  to  get 
out  again.  Never  borrow  if  you  can  possibly  avoid  it.  Do  not 
marry  until  you  are  able  to  support  a  wife.  Never  speak  evil 
of  any  one.  Be  just  before  you  are  generous.  Keep  yourself 
innocent  if  you  would  be  happy.  Save  when  you  are  young  to 
spend  when  you  are  old.  Read  over  the  above  maxims 'at  least 
once  a  week." 

These  are  golden  sentences,  and  they  were  certainly  embodied 
in  the  unblemished  and  useful  life  of  their  possessor. 


MR.  HART'S  ADMINISTRATION.  153 

Eesignation  of  Mr.  Hart. 

"  In  the  service  of  the  institution,"  say  his  brother-managers, 
u  he  displayed  in  an  eminent  measure  that  energy  of  character, 
that  straightforward  honesty  of  purpose,  that  sagacious  common- 
sense  and  indefatigable  industry,  for  which  he  was  so  extensive 
ly  known  in  the  various  public  offices  and  important  situations 
ho  was  called  to  occupy  during  his  long  career." 

On  the  1st  of  May,  1837,  the  institution  was  called  to  part 
with  its  excellent  and  beloved  superintendent,  Mr.  N.  C.  Hart — 
"  a  man,"  as  the  managers  say,  "  peculiarly  qualified  for  the 
station,  on  the  score  alike  of  talents,  habits,  and  disposition." 
His  health  breaking  down  under  the  exacting  duties  of  his  office, 
he  was  obliged  to  proffer  the  resignation  of  his  place,  and  the 
managers  as  reluctantly  to  receive  it.  "  He  was  an  able  disci 
plinarian,"  they  say  in  their  report ;  "  possessed  a  happy  faculty 
of  securing  the  confidence,  good-will,  and  even  affection  of  the 
children ;  was  severe  only  when  severity  was  necessary ;  and 
was  indulgent  on  all  proper  occasions.  In  one  word,  his  delight 
was  to  do  good,  and  his  bosom  was  the  abode  of  every  generous 
and  benevolent  feeling." 


154      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Rev.  David  Terry,  Jr. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BELLEVUE. 

MR.  HART'S  successor  was  Eev.  David  Terry,  Jr.,  who  had 
enjoyed  several  years'  experience  as  assistant  superintendent 
and  teacher  under  Mr.  Hart.  The  managers  add  in  speaking 
of  the  new  administration,  "That  when  they  announce  that  the 
institution  has  not  suffered  by  the  change,  they  at  the  same  time 
bestow  the  highest  compliment  upon  Mr.  Hart's  successor." 

In  this  report,  the  thirteenth,  the  managers  change  somewhat 
the  character  of  the  selections  of  cases  of  probable  reformation 
which  accompany  all  their  reports.  t;  They  have  chosen,"  they 
say,  "  in  some  respects  to  vary  their  plan,  by  the  selection  of  a  few 
cases  of  both  sexes  in  which  the  reformations  effected  have  to  a 
certainty  been  not  only  thorough  but  lasting.  In  order  to  bring 
out  at  once  the  strongest  evidences  of  the  great  good  that  has 
resulted  from  the  moral  discipline  of  the  institution,  they  have 
confined  themselves  to  the  histories  of  cases  of  long  standing,  in 
all  of  which  the  subjects  have  been  reclaimed  from  the  most 
vicious  courses,  have  been  married  and  comfortably  settled  in 
life,  and  are  now  worthy  citizens  and  respectable  heads  of 
families." 

They  also  remark  that,  in  addition  to  the  cases  published  in 
the  Appendix,  "  they  have  it  in  their  power  to  state  that  two 


BELLEVUE.  155 


Cases  of  Accomplished  Keformation. 


young  men,  formerly  inmates  of  the  Refuge,  are  now  studying 
for  the  Christian  ministry — one  of  them  in  this  State,  and  the 
other  in  Pennsylvania."  Of  one  of  these  young  men  they  say, 
he  "  dates  his  conversion  during  his  residence  in  the  House  of 
Refuge." 

Most  interesting  and  affecting  records  of  seven  young  women, 
formerly  inmates  of  the  House,  at  that  time  married,  well  set 
tled  in  life,  and  the  most  of  them  known  to  be  connected  with 
Christian  churches,  follow  this  report ;  together  with  the  story 
of  the  history,  equally  satisfactory,  of  six  young  men.  To  such 
cases  the  Refuge  may  turn  as  did  the  Apostle  to  his  converts  at 
Corinth,  and  say,  "  Ye  are  our  epistle  .  .  .  known  and  read  of 
all  men." 

An  important  era  had  now  been  reached  in  the  history  of 
the  House  of  Refuge.  Population  had  been  gradually  expand 
ing  the  city  toward  the  property  of  the  Society,  until  it  began  to 
break  like  a  wave  all  around  them.  The  long  avenues  stretch 
ing  toward  the  north  now  ran  parallel  to  the  grounds,  while  the 
projected  cross-streets  would  pass  through  the  property  of  the 
Society.  Twenty-fifth  Street,  for  the  laying  out  of  which  com 
missioners  had  been  appointed,  would  destroy  a  large  portion 
of  the  buildings  of  the  Refuge. 

A  committee  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen  met  a 
committee  of  the  Society  to  arrange  the  matter,  and  .expressed  a 
willingness  "  to  appropriate  a  portion  of  the  corporation  lands  in 
the  upper  parts  of  the  city  as  a  site  to  which  the  Refuge  might 
be  removed."  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  points  then  consid 
ered  quite  beyond  the  probable  encroachments  of  population, 
and  favorable,  from  their  isolated  condition,  for  the  establishment 
of  the  Refuge.  The  three  sites  proposed  were : — a  block  on 


156       A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Sites  for  New  House.— Results  of  Fifteen  Years. 

Murray  Hill,  between  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Avenues  ;  a  block  at 
Hamilton  Square,  between  the  Third  and  Fourth  Avenues ;  and 
the  Bellevue  Fever  Hospital,  with  the  block  of  ground  between 
Twenty-third  and  Twenty-fourth  Streets,  and  the  First  Avenue 
and  Avenue  A,  opening  out  upon  a  fine  and  healthy  river  view. 
Upon  careful  consideration  it  was  found  that  by  the  erection  of  a 
new  edifice  for  the  female  department,  and  a  wall,  the  buildings 
heretofore  used  as  a  hospital  could  be,  without  great  expense, 
fitted  up  for  the  accommodation  of  the  officers  and  inmates  of 
the  Refuge. 

October  10,  1839,  "  At  8  o'clock  this  morning,"  says  the 
superintendent  in  the  daily  journal,  "we  were  safely  and  com 
fortably  situated  in  our  new  home,  at  the  foot  of  Twenty-third 
Street,  on  the  East  River  side.  The  premises  have  been  fitted 
up  by  our  managers  with  great  care  for  the  comfort,  convenience, 
and  reformation  of  the  juvenile  delinquents  committed  to  their 
charge." 

During  the  period  that  the  institution  occupied  the  Arsenal 
grounds,  about  fifteen  years,  twenty-five  hundred  children  had 
been  received  and  sent  back  again  into  society.  In  view  of  this 
fact  the  managers  remark :  "  The  community  supports  this 
class  of  children  partly  in  poor-houses,  partly  by  charity  at 
their  doors,  partly  by  larcenies  on  their  property  of  a  petty 
character,  until  they  arrive  at  manhood  ;  then  society  supports 
them  by  grand  larcenies,  and  suffers  by  their  house-breaking, 
arson,  and  every  other  crime,  and  has  in  addition  the  immense 
expense  of  criminal  courts  and  of  all  our  prison  establishments. 
In  the  Refuge  the  children  are  supported,  schooled,  furnished 
books,  and  clothed,  on  an  average  of  about  one  year,  and  at  an 
expense  of  about  one  dollar  and  twenty- seven  cents  per  week, 


BELLEVUE.  157 


M.  dc  Metz,  of  Paris.  • 


while  an  adult  criminal  is  frequently  a  burden  on  the  community 
for  life-,  at  a  much  greater  weekly  charge  for  support  and  guard 
ing.  Our  statistics  may  not  show  the  precise  number  reclaimed, 
but  we  venture  to  assert  that,  if  the  twenty-five  hundred  chil 
dren  which  this  institution  has  received  and  taught  to  read  and 
write,  and  bound  out  to  service,  had  been  left  in  the  idle  and  crim 
inal  courses  which  they  had  already  commenced,  society  would 
have  paid  for  and  suffered  in  a  tenfold  proportion  beyond  the 
expense  of  teaching  and  indenturing  these  children.  It  is  cer 
tain  that  setting  fire  to  but  one  store  or  dwelling  in  each  year, 
by  any  of  these  children,  would  have  destroyed  more  property  in 
value  than  the  whole  expense  of  the  institution  from  its  origin." 
The  success  of  the  American  Houses  of  Refuge  already 
established,  awakened  not  only  much  interest  throughout  the 
States,  but  much  correspondence  and  many  inquiries  from  Europe. 
In  1837  M.  de  Metz,  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Assize,  at  Paris, 
was  appointed  on  a  commission  to  visit  and  report  upon  the 
prisons  of  the  United  States.  In  pursuing  his  inquiries,  which 
were  embodied  in  a  valuable  state  paper,  he  was  peculiarly 
struck  with  the  Houses  of  Refuge  in  New  York  and  Phila 
delphia.  His  own  feelings  had  been  deeply  roused  heretofore, 
by  the  number  and  character  of  the  youths  brought  into  his 
court ;  as  he  remarked  a  few  years  since,  in  a  speech  in  Eng 
land,  "  Many  of  these  were  no  higher  than  my  desk,  and  as 
there  wrere  at  that  time  no  establishments  for  the  reformation  of 
juveniles,!  was  obliged  to  consign  them  all  to  prison."  By  the 
French  law,  when  a  crime  was  charged  upon  a  youth  under 
sixteen,  it  was  permitted  to  the  court  at^its  discretion  to  acquit 
the  criminal  as  having  acted  williout  discernment,  and  to  deliver 
the  youth  to  his  natural  guardians,  or  detain  him  for  education, 


158      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

De  Metz  devotes  himself  to  the  Work  of  Keform. 

a  period  not  exceeding  his  twenty-fifth  year.  This  detention 
came  practically  to  amount  to  their  incarceration  in  jail  with 
older  offenders,  and  by  their  depraving  influence,  to  the  ruin  of 
the  young  delinquents.  In  these  American  institutions  he  found 
exposed  and  criminal  children  trained  and  educated  with  good 
results.  He  resolved  to  devote  himself  to  the  work  of 
rescuing  the  young  detenus  (as  they  were  called)  of  France 
from  the  ruin  which  he  had  so  often  witnessed  in  his  judicial 
office.  He  at  once  determined  to  resign  his  position  and  sacri 
fice  the  prospects  of  worldly  advancement  before  him,  to  ac 
complish  the  new  mission  upon  which  he  was  about  to  enter 
with  so  much  zeal.  Upon  his  return  to  Europe  he  pursued  his 
inquiries  among  the  institutions  for  juvenile  reform  that  had 
been  already  established  in  Belgium  and  Germany,  and  was 
particularly  impressed  with  the  remarkable  success  of  Dr. 
Wichern  at  the  Rauhe  Haus  in  Hamburg.  His  active,  origi 
nating  mind  at  once  devised  a  plan  combining  the  German  and 
American  systems,  and  engrafting  upon  them  a  military  dis 
cipline,  peculiarly  adapting  it  to  the  taste  and  character  of  his 
own  country.  He  retained  the  strict  order,  the  constant  labor, 
the  regular  daily  hours  of  school  instruction,  and  the  close 
supervision  of  the  American  House  of  Refuge,  but  broke  his 
institution  up  into  small  three-story  buildings,  capable  of  holding 
forty  boys  with  their  officers.  The  military  discipline  supplied 
the  absence  of  walls  and  bars,  in  connection  with  the  high  moral 
tone  of  feeling  which  the  noble  and  admirable  chief  directors 
were  enabled  to  awaken  in  the  minds  of  their  young  convicts. 

The  first  work  of  pe  Metz  was  to  secure  the  cooperation  of 
influential  minds  throughout  the  empire  ;  and  by  his  personal 
influence  he  succeeded  in  establishing  the  "  Paternal  Society/' 


BELLEVUE.  159 


The  Paternal  Society  and  its  Office. 


having  for  its  object  a  benevolent  guardianship  over  all  children 
accused  of  crime,  and  acquitted  on  the  ground  of  having  acted 
without  discernment,  and  who  might  be  committed  to  their  care 
by  the  magistrates.  The  objects  of  the  Society  would  be,  to 
secure  for  these  children  a  moral  and  religious  training,  together 
with  elementary  instruction  ;  to  have  them  taught  a  trade,  and 
then  to  place  them  in  the  country  as  apprentices  to  tradesmen 
and  farmers.  A  second  office  of  the  Society,  whose  members 
were  scattered  throughout  the  empire,  was  to  keep  an  eye  upon 
the  conduct  of  these  children,  and  to  assist  them  by  acting  as 
their  patrons  for  three  years  after  their  leaving  the  institution 
which  it  was  proposed  to  establish.  Thus  the  English,  Amer 
ican,  German,  and  French  systems  of  juvenile  reform,  grew  out 
of  the  voluntary  benevolence  and  cooperation  of  eminent  Chris 
tian  philanthropists  in  their  chief  cities. 

An  old  school-mate  of  the  judge,  M.  le  Vicomte  de  Cour- 
teilles,  who,  though  he  had  been  in  the  army,  had  paid  much 
attention  to  the  subject  of  criminal  discipline,  and  had  just 
published  a  work  on  "  Convicts  and  Prisons,"  became  at  once 
enthusiastically  interested  in  the  new  movement.  He  owned 
an  estate  at  Mettray,  four  miles  from  Tours,  and  one  hundred 
and  forty-eight  southwest  from  Paris,  on  the  Loire.  This  he 
at  once  devoted  to  the  undertaking,  and,  what  was  of  even 
greater  service,  he  devoted  himself,  and  remained  on  the  ground, 
literally  engaged  in  the  work,  until  the  moment  of  his  death. 
He  was  attending  the  sick-bed  of  a  youth  who  had,  to  all 
appearance,  become  thoroughly  hardened,  when  the  latter,  for 
the  first  time  since  his  admission  into  the  colony,  exhibited  some 
sign  of  contrition.  The  joy  which  the  pious  Vicomte  experi 
enced  on  the  occasion  reminding  him  of  an  extract  from  a  ser- 


160      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Vicomte  de  Conrteifles.—  Preparation  of  Officers. 

raon  which  he  had  inserted  in  his  work  on  prisons,  he  went  for 
the  volume,  and  was  reading  the  passage  to  his  friends  that 
were  around  him,  when  the  book  dropped  from  his  hands  ;  he 
was  dead  !  In  his  will  was  found  this  touching  and  prophetic  sen 
tence,  which  was  also  inscribed  upon  his  tomb  :  "  I  have  wished 
to  live,  to  die,  and  to  rise  again  with  them  "  (the  boys  of  the 
colony). 

Before  De  Metz  and  the  Vicomte  took  a  boy  or  laid  a  stone, 
they  drew  around  them  twenty  men,  the  most  of  them  young 
men  respectably  connected,  to  become  their  staff  of  instruction 
and  discipline.  They  secured  also  a  chaplain  (a  Catholic)  to 
assist  them  in  religious  instruction.  The  judge,  soldier,  and 
priest,  then  devoted  themselves  for  six  months  to  the  training  of 
their  twenty  officers.  Five  houses  were  first  constructed  in  the 
space  of  five  months;  in  ten  months' they  were  able  to  receive 
one  hundred  and  twenty  children  ;  five  other  houses,  a  chapel, 
punishment-wards,  stables,  barns,  a  complete  farm-house,  and  a 
dwelling  for  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  who  became  the  nurses  and 
matrons  of  the  institution,  were  successively  completed.  The 
buildings  were  severely  plain  and  economical  in  their  construc 
tion.  The  ground  floor  was  used  as  a  workshop,  and  each  of 
the  upper  floors  served  in  turn,  during  the  twenty-four  hours,  as 
a  sleeping,  eating,  and  school-room,  for  twenty  boys  each — the 
hammocks  for  beds,  and  the  tables  for  meals,  were  swung  from 
the  sides  or  lowered  upon  the  centre  posts  of  the  building  as  the 
time  for  their  use  arrived.  Each  house  has  two  carefully-trained 
officers — a  chief  and  a  sub-chief — together  with  two  subordinate 
officers,  holding  office  for  three  months  nt  a  time,  appointed  from 
the  trained  and  best-behaved  boys  themselves,  called  elder  brothers. 
The  institution  is  styled  "  The  Agricultural  Colony  of  Mettray," 


AGRICULTURAL  COLONY  AT  METTRAY.  P'  16°' 


BELLEVUE.  161 


Character  of  Discipline  at  Mettray. 


avoiding,  thus,,  any  term  that  might  of  itself  affect  unfavorably 
the  reputation  of  a  former  inmate,  although,  as  it  is  generally 
understood  what  class  of  youths  become  the  subjects  of  its 
training,  the  ruralness  of  its  name  would  in  no  measure  propi 
tiate  a  person  so  uncharitable  as  to  distrust  a  young  man  who 
had  been  an  inmate  of  a  house  of  refuge.  It  has  an  average  of 
six  hundred  lads ;  about  one-half  of  whom  are  employed  upon 
the  farm,  and  the  others  in  various  forms  of  mechanical  labor. 

"  Mettray,"  says  De  Metz,  "  has  first  for  its  basis  religion, 
without  which  it  is  impossible  for  such  an  institution  to  succeed ; 
secondly,  the  family  principle  for  a  bond ;  and  thirdly,  military 
discipline  for  a  means  of  inculcating  order.  The  military  disci 
pline  adopted  at  Mettray  is  this :  the  lads  wear  a  uniform,  and 
they  march  to  and  from  their  work,  their  lessons,  and  their 
meals,  with  the  precision  of  soldiers  and  to  the  sound  of  a 
trumpet  and  drum ;  but  as  the  sound  of  the  trumpet  and  the 
drum  leads  men  on  to  perform  acts  of  heroism,  and  to  surmount 
the  greatest  difficulties,  may  it  not  reasonably  be  employed  with 
the  same  object  at  a  reformatory  school,  where,  in  resisting 
temptation  and  conquering  vicious  habits,  true  heroism  is  dis 
played,  and  a  marvellous  power  of  overcoming  difficulties  must 
be  called  forth." 

Every  possible  effort  is  made,  by  public  notice  and  disgrace, 
to  awaken  a  keen  sense  of  pride  and  personal  honor.  "  The  sys 
tem  of  De  Metz,"  says  the  London  Quarterly,  "  is  an  elaborate 
use  of  the  passion  (for  so  we  must  call  it)  of  emulation.  A  French 
writer  (M.  Cochin)  describes  it  as  a  kind  of  alliance  between 
vanity  and  the  conscience,  and  remarks  that 4  the  founders  of 
Mettray,  in  addressing  themselves  to  this  quality,  have  shown  a 

remarkable  knowledge  of  human   nature,  and   of  the  French 
11 


162      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Eflect  of  this  Discipline. 

nature  in  particular.'  The  list  of  honor,  as  it  is  called,  is  a 
general  one  for  the  whole  institution,  and  is  displayed  in  the 
class-room,  which  is  their  common  place  of  meeting.  Mr.  Hall 
was  struck  by  this  manuscript,  which  contained  the  names  of 
three  hundred  and  five  colonists,  who,  during  three  months, 
had  given  no  occasion  for  punishment.  Out  of  the  list,  forty- 
seven  had  been  struck,  showing  that  these  had  given  no  occa 
sion  for  punishment  since  the  preparation  of  the  list.  A 
similar  list  is  exhibited  weekly  in  each  family,  and  it  is  a  mark 
of  distinction  to  each  family  to  be  able  to  display  what  Mr.  Hall 
calls  a  clean  bill  of  health,  i.  e.,  a  list,  showing  that  no  member 
had  been  punished  in  the  preceding  week.  When  this  is  the 
case  a  flag  is  hoisted,  and  the  insignia  of  the  house  (consisting 
of  presents  made  by  former  inmates)  are  displayed,  all  of  which 
are  removed  as  soon  as  an  offence  is  committed  by  a  member  of 
the  family."  This  makes  the  boys  exceedingly  watchful  of  each 
other,  and  so  keen  is  the  emulation  between  the  houses,  that 
cases  have  occurred  where  families  have  petitioned  for  the  ex 
pulsion  of  an  incorrigible  member,  on  account  of  his  keeping 
down  the  character  of  the  house.  The  appeal  to  the  sense  of 
honor  is,  after  all,  not  the  highest  motive ;  and,  although  with 
French  children  it  may  have  been  quite  successful,  we  should 
doubt  its  wholesomeness  or  even  practicability  to  accomplish  its 
object  as  a  general  principle.  It  may  excite  to  fierce  compe 
tition,  engender  strife,  awaken  pride,  and  foster  selfish  affections. 
An  appeal  to  honor  does  not  change  the  heart,  nor  fortify  the 
soul  against  the  approaches  of  temptation  in  after-life ;  it  makes 
good  soldiers,  perhaps,  and  among  some  of  the  bravest  in  the 
Crimea  were  found  the  graduates  of  Mettray ;  but  whether  this 
discipline  will  develop  a  quiet,  harmonious  Christian  life  and 


BELLE  VUE. 


Miss  Dix  at  Mettray.— American  Family  Schools. 


temper,  may  at  least  be  considered  a  question.  Miss  Dix,  the 
American  philanthropist,  did  not  receive  as  pleasant  an  impres- 
tion  of  the  colony  as  many  of  its  visitors.  The  military  spirit 
of  the  place  and  the  manifest  tendency  of  its  discipline  to  divert 
the  minds  of  the  inmates  from  the  labors  and  sacrifices  of  a 
peaceful  life  to  the  ambitions  and  fields  of  war,  did  not  strike 
her  favorably.  Out  of  856  youths  that  had  left  Mettray,  223 
had  entered  the  military  service.  She  also  thought  the  inmates 
appeared  under-fed  and  overworked,  exhibiting  a  depressed 
rather  than  a  cheerful  appearance.  Feeble  health  now  retains 
the  excellent  founder  in  Paris,  and  the  institution  lacks  the  mag 
netism  of  his  presence.  An  American  friend,  personally  connected 
with  a  reformatory  institution,  modelled  somewhat  upon  the 
plan  of  Mettray,  has  lately  returned  from  a  tour  in  Europe, 
and  rather  confirms  the  views  of  Miss  Dix.  He  noticed  a 
marked  lack  of  tidiness  about  the  premises. 

We  have  noticed  this  institution  at  some  length,  inasmuch 
as  several  of  the  later  reformatories  which  have  been  established 
in  this  country  have  been  modelled  somewhat  after  this  plan, 
and  at  the  present  time  it  stands  rather  as  the  representative  of 
the  advanced  line  of  progress  in  this  direction.  In  simplicity 
of  management,  in  arrangement  of  buildings,  and  in  the  general 
spirit  of  the  institution,  we  have  no  doubt  that  our  family  reform 
schools  (so  called)  have  improved  upon  their  model.  But  in  one 
respect  they  can  hardly  ever  hope  to  equal  Mettray — in  the  band 
of  carefully-trained  and  permanent  officers.  After  all,  it  was 
not  so  much  the  system  as  it  was  M.  de  Metz  and  the  Vicomte, 
that  exercised  such  an  influence  over  the  young  detenus^  and 
their  absence  will  never  cease  to  be  felt.  As  De  Tocqueville 
said  (already  referred  to),  it  is  too  complicated  a  plan  for  ordinary 


164      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 


Capt.  Basil  Hall  on  the  New  York  House. 


minds  to  grasp  and  wield.  Instead  of  having  one  powerful 
mind  to  be  felt  throughout  the  institution,  almost  equally  pow 
erful  reformatory  minds  are  required  in  each  house  of  forty  in 
mates.  The  moral,  intellectual,  and  economical  statistics,  are 
not  of  a  character  to  give  this  interesting  colony,  which  has  be 
come  the  model  of  hundreds  of  others  in  Europe  and  several  in 
our  country,  any  marked  advantage  over  the  one  visited  in  New 
York,  in  1837,  by  its  truly  venerable  and  devoted  founder,  and 
which  seemed  to  have  awakened  in  his  mind  the  first  practical 
thought  as  to  the  reformation  of  juvenile  offenders. 

It  is  this  simplicity  of  plan,  administered  with  a  Christian 
spirit,  and  with  an  even  and  constant  discipline,  that  called  out 
from  Captain  Basil  Hall,  who  wTas,  as  all  know,  by  no  means 
a  laudatory  observer,  during  his  tour  in  this  country,  published 
in  1829,  the  remark,  "I  have  rarely  seen  in  any  country  an 
institution  containing  less  admixture  of  speculative  quackery,  or 
better  calculated  to  remedy  acknowledged  evils,  by  getting  at 
their  source  and  checking  their  growth.  A  bounty  on  virtue,  in 
short,  is  offered  to  these  young  people  by  showing  them,  while 
their  tastes  and  habits  are  yet  ductile,  the  practical  advantages 
of  good  conduct." 

Whatever  visitor  honors  the  House  with  his  presence  is 
sure  to  find  its  inmates  engaged  in  their  daily  duties.  They  are 
never  called  away  from  their  tasks  or  from  their  schools  to  make 
any  exhibition  of  themselves  or  of  their  attainments.  In  all 
visits  from  persons  high  in  office  in  this  or  foreign  countries,  the 
regular  order  of  the  day  has  remained  unchanged,  and  they  have 
enjoyed  what  they  could  but  appreciate,  as  did  Captain  Hall, 
the  sight  of  the  institution  in  its  undress,  engaged  in  its  legiti 
mate  work.  Only  upon  holidays  is  this  order  interrupted,  and 


BELLE  VUE.  165 


The  Sixteenth  Year  the  Maximum  for  Admission. 


then  the  freedom  of  the  inmates  is  as  unrestrained  as  can  con 
sist  with  the  largest  wholesome  indulgence. 

It  cannot  have  escaped  the  notice  of  the  reader  that,  in  many 
of  the  instances  given  of  the  favorable  influence  of  the  institu 
tion  over  the  character  and  life  of  its  subjects,  the  persons  were 
committed  after  their  sixteenth  year.  With  all  these  grateful 
facts,  it  was  the  conviction  of  the  managers  and  officers  of  the 
Refuge,  that  the  probabilities  of  reformation  were  greatly  de 
creased  after  sixteen  years  of  age,  in  the  instance  of  both  sexes, 
and  that  the  presence  of  these  older  children  was  seriously 
prejudicial  to  the  younger  girls  and  boys.  The  managers  of  the 
Philadelphia  Refuge  had  gone  so  far  as  to  say,  that  "  experience 
has  shown  that  after  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  there  is  little  hope 
of  reformation."  The  New  York  managers  say,  in  1843,  in 
reference  to  this  sentiment :  "  Without  meaning  to  indorse  it  to 
its  full  extent,  our  own  general  experience,  although  individual 
cases  may  occasionally  present  exceptions,  strongly  impresses  us 
with  the  wisdom  of  the  limitation  in  the  act  of  April  10,  1840 
(amending  the  Revised  Statutes),  which  provides  that  'when 
ever  any  person,  under  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  shall  be  con 
victed  of  any  felony  or  other  crime,  the  court,  instead  of  sen 
tencing  such  person  to  imprisonment  in  a  State  prison  or 
county  jail,  may  order  that  he  be  removed  to,  and  confined  in, 
the  House  of  Refuge.' " 

They  found,  however,  this  limitation  almost  constantly  trans 
gressed.  The  year  before,  a  young  woman,  evidently  above 
eighteen  years  of  age,  the  limit  at  that  time  of  their  retaining 
the  custody  of  girls,  had  been  sent  to  them  for  a  serious  offence, 
and  had  scarcely  arrived  when  her  husband  appeared  and 
claimed  her  as  his  wife.  The  mildness  of  the  discipline  of  the 


166      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Maturity  of  the  Children  in  the  Second  Division. 

Refuge,  the  avoidance  of  the  disgrace  and  ruin  of  the  prison, 
and  the  hope  of  an  early  discharge,  induced  friends  often  to  urge 
the  courts  to  send  mature  youths  to  the  Refuge. 

From  its  origin  it  has  constantly  demonstrated  the  necessity 
of  some  other  place  of  confinement  for  young  criminals,  no 
longer  children,  but  still  not  beyond  the  hope  of  reformation. 
As  the  Refuge  was  constituted,  both  upon  Madison  Square  and 
at  Bellevue,  having  no  opportunity  for  separation,  according 
to  character  or  age,  in  either  the  male  or  female  departments, 
it  was  more  exposed  to  the  injurious  influences  of  mature  youths 
of  either  sex.  As  now  constituted,  with  two  divisions  of  boys 
and  two  of  girls,  it  can,  without  peril  to  the  inmates,  and  with 
much  greater  success,  attempt  the  important  work  of  the  refor 
mation  of  boys  and  girls  whose  age  and  experience  in  crime 
might  seem  at  first  to  forbid  much  rational  expectation  of 
their  recovery  to  the  paths  of  virtue.  The  second  division  of 
boys  and  girls  now  present  an  appearance  of  maturity  that  is  to 
be  found  in  few  reformatories,  either  in  this  country  or  Europe. 
The  result  is  very  encouraging.  A  greater  proportion,  indeed, 
of  this  class  than  of  the  younger  children  will  return  to  their 
old  vices  and  crimes,  but  a  large  majority  of  such  inmates,  par 
ticularly  boys,  have  done  well. 

The  Daily  Journal  of  the  institution,  which  had  been  faithfully 
kept  from  the  first,  has  become  by  this  time  (1843)  peculiarly  in 
teresting.  Almost  every  day  records  the  visit  of  former  subjects, 
now  grown  to  manhood.  There  is  a  great  variety  in  them, 
some  of  them  recording  sad  failures,  giving  satisfactory  assurance 
of  the  truthfulness  of  these  annals.  "  D.  G.,"  says  the  record  of 
April  17th,  "  one  of  the  first  fifty  we  received  into  the  Refuge, 
came  to  see  us,  saying:  'I  desire  to  see  my  old  home  once 


BELLEVUE. 


Cases  of  Reformed  Boys. 


more.'  Whilst  he  was  an  apprentice,  we  had  satisfactory  ac 
counts  of  his  conduct,  and  so  we  have  had  since.  He  is  now  a 
member  of  a  religious  society,  the  father  of  three  children, 
keeps  the  yard  (for  tanning)  his  master  formerly  occupied,  and 
feels  encouraged  with  his  prospect  of  securing  a  comfortable 
provision  for  his  family." 

How  interesting  and  significant  the  record  of  the  22d  of 
July  of  this  year:  "M.  D.  E.,  now  a  school-teacher,  formerly 
under  our  care,  makes  application  to  have  a  girl  indentured  to 
him  to  assist  in  his  family.  He  has  a  wife  and  three  children." 

"  S.  D.  A.,  who  left  the  institution  ten  years  ago,  called  on  us 
this  day.  He  served  his  time  faithfully,  got  a  thorough  knowl 
edge  of  his  trade,  which  he  is  now  pursuing  on  his  own  account 
on  a  pretty  large  scale.  He  employs  several  hands,  is  respecta 
bly  married,  and  has  two  children.  He  is  so  much  respected  by 
his  neighbors  that  they  voluntarily  gave  the  place  in  which  he 
resides  his  name,  with  mile  at  the  end  of  it.  His  object  in  call 
ing  was  to  get  a  girl,  and,  having  an  order  for  one  from  one 
of  our  Indenturing  Committee,  he  was  promptly  supplied  with 
the  best  we  had." 

"  W.  H.  W.,  who,  eight  years  ago,  was  indentured  to  J.  B., 
a  farmer  in  New  Jersey,  called  to  see  us  this  day  in  company 
with  his  master.  He  was  well  dressed,  intelligent,  and  manly  in 
his  bearing,  and  Mr.  B.  seemed  as  proud  of  him  as  if  he  had 
been  his  own  son.  He  takes  his  master  to  tarry  the  night  with 
his  mother  in  the  city ;  returns  with  him  to-morrow,  and  will 
take  his  farm  on  shares  in  the  spring." 

Sometimes  we  hear  indirectly  from  the  old  inmates:  "A 
man  from  Connecticut,  who  had  one  of  our  boys,  visited  us  to 
day,  and  said  that  E.  A.,  who  was  some  twelve  years  ago  inden- 


168      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Occasion  of  the  Failure  of  Indentured  Children. 

tured  to  a  farmer,  served  his  time  faithfully  to  within  one  year ; 
that  year  he  bought  of  his  master,  who,  confiding  in  the  integ 
rity  of  the  lad,  trusted  him  for  an  indefinite  period,  or,  until  he 
should  be  able  to  pay.  E.  then  bound  himself  for  a  given  time 
to  a  mechanic,  served  his  time  out,  got  a  good  trade,  paid  his 
first  master,  started  in  business,  got  married,  and  is  now  reck 
oned  among  the  most  promising  of  the  citizens  of  his  age  and 
circumstances  in  the  place  in  which  he  lives." 

The  failure  of  a  child  indentured  in  a  family  is  by  no  means 
a  fair  measure  of  the  influence  of  the  institution  over  him.  In 
many  cases,  perhaps  nearly  one-half  of  the  failures,  this  may  be 
attributed  to  the  lack  of  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  human  na 
ture,  or  of  Christian,  or  even  natural  kindness  on  the  part  of 
those  receiving  the  child.  The  homesick  and  lonesome  boy  or 
girl  is  often  rather  spurned  than  drawn  to  the  hearts  of  his  now 
legal  guardians,  and  made  to  feel  that  they  are  rather  his  natural 
enemies  than  his  friends.  We  are  speaking  now  of  the  cases  of 
failure,  which  form  but  a  small  minority  of  those  indentured, 
and  we  make  the  statement  more  confidently,  for  the  sad  story 
of  the  child  has  been  often  confirmed.  The  rejected  boy  or  girl, 
and  often  the  runaway,  has  been  immediately  indentured  in 
another  family,  and  proved  to  be  unexceptionable.  The  great 
majority  of  those  placed  at  service  have  found  good  homes,  and 
have  amply  returned  the  kindness  that  has  been  bestowed  upon 
them. 

Although  quite  a  long  letter,  it  is  such  a  capital  one,  from  a 
gentleman  who  had  taken  a  boy,  in  answer  to  the  requisition  of 
the  indentures  that  he  should  report  every  six  months  in  refer 
ence  to  his  health,  conduct,  and  progress,  that  we  introduce  it 
unabridged.  We  select  it  particularly  for  the  eminent  good 


BELLEVUE.  169 


Interesting  Letter  from  a  Master. 


sense  contained  in  the  close  of  the  letter.  All  persons  having 
in  hand  the  discipline  of  young  persons  may  learn  a  lesson 
from  it : 

"B J ,  Nov.  11,  1843. 

"  Agreeable  to  request  (of  circular  handed  to  me  and  accompa 
nying  the  indenture  of  Sandy)  I  address  the  institution,  and  be 
assured  it  affords  me  a  great  pleasure  to  be  able  to  give  so  good 
an  account  of  Sandy.  He  has  the  general  work  of  a  farm  to 
attend  to,  viz.,  to  assist  to  milk  six  cows,  and  feed  and  fodder 
them  and  the  cattle  and  calves ;  clean  a  span  of  almost  white 
horses  and  feed  them  before  breakfast ;  and,  much  to  Sandy's 
credit,  he  takes  delight  in  keeping  and  making  his  horses  look  a 
little  better  than  any  other  team  in  the  neighborhood.  He  feels 
quite  proud  when  I  am  detained  in  town  over  night  and  come 
back  with  the  horses  all  stained  up  from  under  the  charge 
of  professed  hostlers  who  do  not  clean  the  team  as  well  as  he 
does.  After  breakfast  there  is  wood  to  chop  and  split,  water  to 
draw  from  the  spring,  etc.,  at  all  of  which  Sandy  is  aS  good  as  I 
am.  Of  our  farm-work,  he  can  hoe  potatoes  and  corn,  husk  the 
latter,  pull  beets,  etc.,  as  well  as  I  can.  Next  summer  he  thinks 
he  can  cut  as  much  grass  as  I  can.  I  shall  give  him  a  scythe 
and  let  him  try.  He  expects  to  make  considerable  next  harvest 
as  raker  and  binder ;  last  harvest  he  was  hardly  strong  enough, 
except  to  bind  some  very  light  oats.  In  hunting  cattle,  and  we 
have  a  great  deal  of  it  to  do,  as  our  pasture  is  so  large,  being 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  large  prairie,  Sandy  beats  me  all 
to  pieces,  for  he  is  an  excellent  horseman.  We  ride  bareback. 
He  delights  to  get  his  cattle  up  when  no  other  boy  in  the  neigh 
borhood  can,  which  he  has  frequently  done,  in  very  dark  nights. 


170       A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Change  in  Sandy's  Discipline. 

I  have  sometimes  feared  he  was  lost ;  but  he  says  there  is  no 
danger  of  that,  for  you  can't  lose  the  horses,  and  he  can  stick  to 
the  horse,  he  knows. 

"  When  we  arrived  here  Sandy  was  very  sullen  and  saucy, 
and  I  was  obliged  to  flog  him ;  and  after  about  six  months  he, 
in  company  with  one  of  my  neighbor's  boys,  ran  away.  We, 
however,  found  them  at  night  about  nine  o'clock  camped  in  the 
woods  with  a  good  fire,  probably  left  by  some  travellers. 
Brought  them  home,  gave  Sandy  a  severe  flogging,  and  then 
resolved  never  to  do  the  like  again.  I  have  taken  an  entirely 
different  course  to  bring  him  up.  I  commenced  by  appealing 
to  his  feelings  and  talking  to  him ;  giving  him  encouragement 
in  various  ways,  and  making  him  have  confidence  in  himself. 
In  hurrying  times  such  as  haying,  harvesting,  and  cleaning  up 
grain,  I  made  a  bargain  with  him,  and  he  has  earned  enough 
in  that  way  by  extra  work  to  pay  a  part  of  his  winter  clothing, 
and  he  has  also  a  fine  calf.  It  is  my  intention  to  turn  his  earn 
ings  into  stock,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  he  will  have 
quite  a  smart  chance  of  cattle.  1  dorft  think  I  shall  ever  flog 
again,  I  am  well  convinced  it  does  no  good.  Sandy  now  has  a 
regard  for  me  and  takes  an  interest  in  'things ;  flogging  would 
only  make  him  do  what  he  was  compelled  to  through  fear. 
One  cheerful  hand  is  worth  a  dozen  grouty  ones. 

"  You  would  hardly  recognize  Sandy,  he  has  grown  so.  He 
is  about  as  large  as  I  am  except  in  height,  and  is  healthy  and 
strong  as  a  young  giant.  In  fact  I  hardly  know  what  or  how  I 
should  do  without  Sandy.  We  commence  our  school  again  in 
a  few  days,  and  I  intend  Sandy  shall  write  you  before  spring, 
perhaps  about  New  Year's.  My  long  delay  in  writing  has  been 
to  give  a  good  account  of  the  boy,  which  I  am  now  able  to  do. 


BELLE  VUE. 


Mr.  Terry  resigns.— Mr.  S.  S.  Wood  succeeds  him. 


In  hopes  to  hear  from  you  occasionally,  particularly  if  you  could 
communicate  any  thing  to  the  interest  of  the  boy, 

"  I  am  yours,  E:  P.  D." 

In  1844  Mr.  Terry  resigned  his  position  as  Superintendent, 
having  for  about  eight  years  fully  sustained  .the  high  reputation 
which  the  Refuge  had  won  under  his  predecessor.  Mr.  Terry, 
filling  an  important  station  in  the  Missionary  Board  of  his  church, 
still  lives  to  mark  the  widening  influence  of  the  institution,  to 
which  he  devoted  so  many  of  the  best  years  of  his  life. 

His  successor,  Mr.  Samuel  S.  Wood,  had  for  some  time  filled 
the  position  of  assistant  superintendent  in  the  House,  and  was 
familiar  with  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  place.  He 
had  many  qualities  of  mind  and  temperament  peculiarly  fitting 
him  for  his  new  position.  The  managers  remark  of  him  in  then- 
twentieth  annual  report,  "  The  experience  acquired  by  him  in 
the  position  he  formerly  occupied,  justified  the  managers  in  the 
belief  that  under  his  superintendency  the  institution  would  lose 
none  of  its  efficiency.  In  every  respect  the  opinion  of  the  man 
agers  has  been  fully  sustained  by  the  zeal  and  ability  of  Mr. 
Wood." 

The  previous  year,  1843,  had  been  peculiarly  fatal  to  the 
friends  and  managers  of  the  institution;  during  its  months, 
Colonel  William  L.  Stone  and  Samuel  Stevens,  both  active, 
earnest,  and  greatly-respected  members  of  the  Board,  were  re 
moved  from  its  management  by  death.  At  the  close  of  the 
same  year,  by  a  very  sudden  and  afflicting  providence  the  So 
ciety  was  deprived  of  the  valuable  services  of  John  R.  Willis, 
one  of  the  noble  company  of  Friends  so  interested  in  the  charita 
ble  institutions  of  the  city.  He  was  chairman  of  the  Indenturing 


172      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
The  Honored  Dead  of  1S43-5. 

Committee,  and  ably  fulfilled  its  exacting  duties  down  to  the 
close  of  his  valuable  life.  "  He  took,"  says  the  twentieth  an 
nual  report,  "  a  benevolent  and  active  interest  in  every  thing 
calculated  to  promote  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  the  unfortu 
nate  children  of  the  Refuge,  and  with  unsurpassed  fidelity  de 
voted  his  time  and-  exertions  in  the  cause  of  public  and  private 
charity.  By  his  experience  and  wise  counsels,  lie  gave  energy 
and  efficiency  to  the  action  of  this  Board.  .  .  .  His  name,"  they 
add,  "  will  long  be  remembered  by  those  who  were  the  wit 
nesses  of  his  benevolent  and  disinterested  exertions  in  promoting 
the  good  of  society." 

In  the  second  annual  report,  we  find  among  the  managers 
the  name-  of  Robert  C.  Cornell,  a  highly-esteemed  merchant,  and 
a  member  also  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  From  the  first  he  was 
one  of  the  most  active  and  efficient  managers  of  the  Refuge. 
For  the  last  twelve  years  of  his  life  he  held  the  office  of  vice- 
president,  and  when  he  fell  by  the  stroke  of  death  in  1845,  his 
brother  managers  say  of  him :  "  His  eminent  public  services,  his 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  public  and  private  charity,  his  enlarged 
and  liberal  spirit  of  philanthropy,  and  his  fidelity  and  zeal  in 
promoting  the  interests  of  the  various  institutions  with  which  he 
was  connected,  render  his  name  and  memory  worthy  of  our 
highest  respect  and  veneration."  The  earliest  managers  never 
lost  their  interest  in  the  institution  over  which  they  had  watched 
with  so  much  anxiety  in  the  years  of  its  first  experiment  in  the 
field  of  juvenile  reform.  •  Removal  or  death  only  changed  the 
names  upon  its  Board.  It  was  natural  that  when  death  began 
its  work  the  venerable  founders  would  follow  each  other  in 
rapid  succession. 

The  succeeding  yetir  marked  the  decease  of  their  admirable 


BELLEVUE.  173 


Mrs.  Sarah  Hall.— Massachusetts  State  Reform  School. 

treasurer,  Cornelius  Dubois,  Samuel  Downer,  and  John  R. 
Townsend ;  and,  from  among  the  lady  managers,  they  are  called 
to  mention  the  departure  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Hall,  wife  of  the  late 
highly-respected  editor  of  the  Commercial  Advertiser,  Francis 
Hall.  "  For  many  years,"  say  her  companions,  "  connected 
with  this  charity,  and  with  associations  of  a  kindred  nature,  she 
devoted  her  means  and  energies  to  the  cause  of  philanthropy. 
She  was  in  frequent  attendance  at  the  House,  and  took  a  lively 
interest  in  the  advancement  of  the  moral  and  religious  condition 
of  the  female  inmates." 

This  year,  1846,  commissioners  from  Massachusetts,  appoint 
ed  by  the  Legislature  for  the  establishment  of  a  State  Reform 
School,  visited  and  carefully  examined  the  House.  This  institu 
tion,  originating  in  a  large  donation  (some  $70,000)  from  one  of 
its  honored  citizens,  Hon.  Theodore  Lyman,  was  probably  the  first 
Reform  School  established  either  in  this  country  or  Europe  by 
the  State,  and  governed  by  trustees  appointed  by  its  Executive. 
The  institution  went  into  operation  in  1848.  Its  buildings  were 
first  constructed  to  accommodate  five  hundred  and  fifty  inmates,  . 
much  upon  the  plan  of  the  New  York  House.  By  a  disastrous 
fire  some  years  since  one-half  of  the  main  edifice  was  destroyed, 
and  instead  of  rebuilding  upon  the  same  plan,  several  small 
houses  have  been  constructed  near  the  principal  edifice,  each  ac 
commodating  about  thirty  inmates. 

As  a  marked  improvement  upon  the  French  institution,  each 
house  is  placed  under  the  charge  of  a  gentleman  and  his  wife, 
giving  much  of  the  character  of  a  home  to  the  administration  of 
its  discipline.  It  is  certainly  a  very  pleasant  innovation  upon 
the  congregate  system ;  but  it  will  be  seen  at  once  that  every 
new  house  requires  for  its  head  a  person  quite  equal  himself  to 


174      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 


Effect  of  Executive  Control. 


be  the  superintendent  of  an  institution,  and  on  this  very  account 
less  fitted  to  fill  a  subordinate  position. 

For  the  short  period  that  these  youths  should  be  detained  in 
such  institutions  before  trying  the  experiment  of  placing  them 
in  actual  families,  and  in  view  of  the  constant,  earnest  discipline 
of  labor  indispensably  requisite  for  the  training  of  such  vagrant 
and  idle  children,  it  may  be  questioned  whether  the  results 
gained  compensate  the  additional  expense  and  the  greater  risk 
to  the  harmony  of  the  establishment,  arising  out  of  so  many  sub 
ordinate,  but,  in  some  measure,  independent  authorities.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  reported  results  of  the  experiment  that  give  it 
an  advantage,  as  to  moral  and  economical  statistics,  over  the 
New  York  House.  Since  the  opening  of  the  State  School  at 
Westborough,  other  State  and  municipal  institutions  have  been 
constituted,  with  Boards  of  management  appointed  by  Execu 
tive  authority,  which  probably  afford  a  confirmation  of  the  expe 
rience  of  the  Massachusetts  school  in  this  respect.  It  has  been 
managed  by  some  of  the  foremost  men  of  the  State,  and,  un 
doubtedly,  with  the  most  painstaking  care  and  integrity ;  yet  it 
has  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  come  into  collision  with  the  Exec 
utive  Department  of  the  government ;  expose  its  Board  to  ab 
rupt  changes  and  its  officers  to  sudden  removals ;  and,  what  is 
more  serious  still,  has  brought  upon  the  institution  itself  the  dis 
trust  of  the  community — a  lack  of  confidence  which,  from  consider 
able  personal  knowledge  of  its  affairs,  we  think  to  be  undeserved. 

The  experience  of  the  half  century  fully  confirms  the  wisdom 
of  keeping  such  institutions  from  the  perils  of  our  changing  pol 
itics.  They  should  be  committed  into  the  hands  of  those  whose 
intelligence,  benevolence,  enjoyment  of  the  public  confidence, 
and  personal  interest  in  the  work,  will  secure  for  them  a  constant 


BELLEVUE.  175 


Western  House  of  Refuge. 


and  faithful  supervision,  and  be  subject  simply  to  the  careful 
periodical  examination  of  some  proper  officer  of  the  State. 

During  the  same  year,  commissioners  from  the  city  of  New 
Orleans,  and  of  our  own  State,  visited  the  House  in  view  of  the 
erection  of  similar  institutions.  A  House  of  Refuge  was  opened 
in  New  Orleans  in  1847,  and  the  Western  House  of  Refuge,  as 
a  purely  State  institution,  went  into  operation  in  1849. 

The  Refuge  at  Rochester  follows  the  system  of  the  New 
York  House,  except  that  it  was  arranged  for  boys  solely.  By 
an  act  of  the  Legislature,  juvenile  delinquents,  from  the  first, 
second,  and  third  judicial  districts,  were  to  be  sent  to  the  latter 
House,  and  from  the  remaining  five  districts  were  to  be  sent  to 
the  former.  Girls  from  all  parts  of  the  State  were  still  to  be 
sent  to  the  New  York  House. 

The  two  institutions,  although  from  year  to  year  other  estab 
lishments  of  a  municipal,  voluntary,  or  denominational  character, 
have  been  opened,  have  found  their  large  accommodations  re 
quired  for  the  increasing  neglected  juvenile  population,  chiefly 
occasioned  by  the  enormous  immigration  annually  entering  the 
country  through  our  State. 

Nearly  all  the  later  institutions  have  been  constructed  on 
the  principle  of  separating  the  sexes,  not  merely  in  different 
buildings,  shut  off  by  high  walls,  but  by  placing  them  in  institu 
tions  in  different  portions  of  the  country.  -  It  was  thought  by 
many  that  the  attempts  which  it  was  supposed  would  be  made 
to  hold  intercourse  with  each  other  would  interfere  with  the 
discipline  and  result  in  mutual  contamination.  It  was  also  feared 
that  the  knowledge  they  might  acquire  of  each  other's  presence 
in  the  House  would  become  a  temptation,  or  an  occasion  of  dis 
grace,  in  after-times.  The  debate  is  still  upon  a  living  question, 


176      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Separation  of  the  Sexes. — Experiment  in  New  York  House. 

and  intelligent  men  differ  widely  in  their  views.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  since  the  New  York  institution  has  been  located  in  its 
present  buildings,  near  each  other,  but  entirely  separate,  and  each 
enclosed  by  its  own  wall,  no  difficulty  of  the  nature  suggested 
has  been  experienced.  There  are  no  attempts  at  correspond 
ence  ;  no  signalling  with  the  eyes  or  hands  in  public  service,  and 
no  irritability  and  desire  to  gaze  upon  each  other  are  displayed. 
The  curiosity  that  would  become  morbid  for  lack  of  gratification 
loses  its  power  by  constant  repetition,  and  our  children  sit  in 
their  capacious  and  beautiful  chapel  with  as  much  quiet  propri 
ety  as  any  audience  in  the  land.  It  is  the  conviction  of  the  offi 
cers  and  managers  that  the  morbid  excitement  which  attends  the 
entire  separation  of  the  sexes  is  greatly  modified  by  their  daily 
intercourse  in  hours  of  labor  and  devotions  in  the  presence  and 
under  the  eyes  of  their  appropriate  officers.  No  instance  of  de 
moralization  has  been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Superin 
tendent  arising  from  an  acquaintance  formed  between  the  sexes 
in  the  House. 

The  beneficial  results  are  many.  Both  departments  have 
forms  of  labor  incident  to  their  daily  necessities  requiring  the 
services  of  the  opposite  sex.  In  purely  male  institutions  this 
work  is  done  by  the  boys,  while  in  female  institutions  it  is  per 
formed  by  hired  men.  In  the  New  York  House  each  sex  has 
its  appropriate  form  of  labor.  The  making,  mending,  and  knit 
ting  form  the  employment  of  a  portion  of  the  younger  girls,  to 
gether  with  the  washing  and  ironing  of  the  whole  institution. 
The  boys  thus  relieved  from  their  inappropriate  services  are  en 
abled  to  enter  upon  trades  that  afford  better  discipline  for  their 
minds  and  moral  faculties,  and  secure  for  them  a  better  oppor 
tunity  after  their  discharge  from  the  House. 


BELLE  VUE.  177 


Experience  of  Author. — Effect  of  worshipping  together. 

The  experience  of  the  writer,  connected  as  he  has  been  with 
a  separate  institution  for  girls,  is,  that  the  girls,  as  a  whole,  are 
as  cheerful,  more  readily  managed,  as  well  fitted  for  the  stations 
they  will  be  called  to  fill,  as  much  under  the  influence  of  moral 
restraints  and  influences,  in  the  united  institution  as  in  the  sepa 
rate.  There  was  an  opportunity  certainly  afforded  in  a  school, 
where  but  thirty  were  gathered  in  a  house,  for  a  teacher  to  draw 
some  particularly  interesting  girl  nearer  to  herself,  and  to  in 
spire  her  with  higher  motives  and  mould  her  by  her  own  power 
ful  influence  over  her.  Nearly  the  same  results,  however,  are 
gained  by  the  subdivisions  into  classes  of  the  same  number,  and, 
after  all,  the  great  thing  to  be  accomplished  is,  with  the  shortest 
possible  training  to  secure  the  awakening  of  the  moral  faculties, 
to  place  these  girls  in  good  families,  where  the  undivided  care 
of  a  Christian  woman  will  be  devoted  to  their  instruction  and 
nurture.  The  results  of  a  personal  examination  of  a  large  num 
ber  of  girls  indentured  from  the  House  in  surrounding  States, 
were  peculiarly  favorable,  both  as  to  the  character  of  the  families 
that  had  taken  them,  and  the  condition  in  every  respect  of  the 
girls  themselves. 

Our  chapel  is  so  constructed,  that  the  girls  sitting  in  the  gal 
lery,  and  the  boys  in  the  body  of  the  room,  are  invisible  to  each 
other ;  but,  when  repairs  in  this  building  required  us  to  find 
some  other  place  of  assembly,  the  whole  institution  met  together 
on  the  same  floor — the  girls  separated  by  a  simple  passage-way 
from  the  boys.  It  was  the  universal  testimony  of  officers  and 
managers,  that,  during  the  Sabbaths  in  which  our  worship  was 
thus  conducted,  not  the  slightest  exhibition  of  impropriety,  or 
even  curiosity,  was  observed. 

The  sexes  were  intended  to  be  educated  together,  a.nd  it  is 
12 


178      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Mr.  Wood  retires. — Condition  of  House. 

of  no  ordinary  service  to  have  the  proprieties  connected  with 
the  intercourse  of  men  and  women  practically  taught  and  illus 
trated,  in  the  presence  of  pure  persons  of  both  sexes. 

The  opening  of  the  new  institution,  at  Rochester,  requiring 
an  experienced  Superintendent  to  preside  over  its  organization, 
Mr.  Wood,  who  had  enjoyed,  during  his  connection  with  the 
House,  the  entire  confidence  of  its  managers,  and  had  brought 
its  discipline  into  an  admirable  condition  of  efficiency,  was  re 
quested  to  inaugurate  the  internal  management  of  the  new 
establishment,  and  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  accept  the  responsi 
bility.  This  station  he  retained,  with  great  credit  to  himself, 
and  benefit  to  the  thousands  of  lads  who  have  passed  through 
the  halls  of  the  Western  House,  until  the  present  year  (1868). 
His  memory  will  ever  be  cherished  in  the  hearts  of  these  re 
claimed  young  men. 

Up  to  this  period  four  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty-three 
inmates  had  been  received  into  the  House  of  Refuge  since  its 
establishment,  and  it  accommodated  at  this  time  about  three 
hundred  and  fifty.  Of  the  condition  of  the  institution  at  this 
period  we  have  the  testimony  of  the  grand  jury,  at  the  head  of 
which  was  the  ex-Mayor,  Hon.  James  Harper,  rendered  June 
23, 1848 :  "  In  happy  contrast,"  they  say,  in  referring  to  certain 
penal  institutions,  "is  the  House  of  Refuge,  at  the  foot  of 
Twenty-third  Street.  Here,  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
has  been  in  active  and  successful  operation  one  of  the  noblest 
and  most  beneficent  reformatory  systems  ever  devised  by  human 
philanthropy.  The  physical,  moral,  and  intellectual  redemption 
of  thousands  who  were  almost  lost,  has  been  achieved,  and  still 
the  good  work  is  going  on  faithfully  and  efficiently  under  the 
intelligent  administration  of  the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of 


BELLEVUE.  179 


Testimony  of  the  Grand  Jury. 


Juvenile  Delinquents,  and  of  the  various  officers  to  whom  the 
execution  of  its  design  is  intrusted.  There  are  now  in  the 
Refuge  two  hundred  and  fifty  boys,  and  sixty  girls,  chiefly  sup 
plied  from  the  city,  though  small  additions  are  made  from  other 
parts  of  the  State.  The  inmates  are  carefully  instructed  in  the 
useful  branches  of  a  plain  English  education,  and  are,  besides, 
usefully  employed  in  various  handicrafts,  qualifying  them  to  fill 
reputable  and  advantageous  stations  in  society,  when  they  are 
fitted  to  return  to  its  duties  and  privileges.  A  great  step  to  such 
a  return  is  effected  by  the  system  of  binding  out  those  whose 
conduct  in  the  Refuge  proves  them  worthy,  to  such  employers, 
residing  in  the  country,  as  are  willing  to  take  apprentices  from 
the  institution.  The  Records  abound  with  proofs  and  illustra 
tions  of  the  happy  agency  exerted  in  this  way  by  the  Refuge. 

"  The  best  evidence  that  can  be  afforded  of  good  and  humane 
management  on  the  part  of  those  having  the  charge  of  these 
youthful  candidates  for  reform,  is  the  fact  that,  notwithstanding 
the  unfavorable  influences  among  which  'their  childhood  was 
generally  passed,  naturally  tending  to  sow  the  seeds  of  disease, 
the  grand  jury  found  only  two  girls,  and  not  one  boy,  on  the 
sick  list.  Equally  strong  testimony  to  the  moral  care  employed 
is  presented  in  the  established  certainty,  that  about  three-fourths 
of  those  who  enter  the  institution,  leave  it  thoroughly  reformed. 
Visits  are  continually  received  from  such,  now  become  prosper 
ous  and  respected  members  of  society.  About  one-third  of  the 
expenses  is  defrayed  annually  by  the  proceeds  of  the  boys' 
labor ;  the  residue  is  met  by  grants  from  the  State,  and  by  the 
license  tax  on  theatres,  etc.  The  physical  condition  of  the 
Refuge  appears  to  the  grand  jury  all  that  could  be  desired. 
Cleanliness  and  order  were  strictly  observed  throughout,  and  the 


180      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

John  W.  Ketchum,  Esq. — Capt.  James  Lovctt. 

whole  system  of  government  is  manifestly  a  happy  combination 
of  firmness,  kindness,  judicious  control,  and  mild  persuasion." 

John  W.  Ketchum,  Esq.,  was  elected  Superintendent,  in 
place  of  Mr.  Wood.  He  had  been  for  years  at  the  head  of  one 
of  the  finest  public  schools  of  New  York,  and  for  several  years 
had  faithfully  administered  the  office  of  Police  Judge  in  the 
city.  He  was  a  man  of  commanding  presence,  of  a  ready  ad 
dress,  with  a  fine,  searching  eye,  fond  of  children,  with  much 
personal  magnetism  drawing  them  warmly  to  himself — alto 
gether  a  man  eminently  qualified  to  take  the  institution,  at  the 
point  of  progress  it  had  reached,  and  to  carry  it  forward. 

Every  year  now  the  reports  contain  the  touching  memorial 
tributes  of  the  managers  to  their  deceased  members.  The  noble 
men  that  laid  the  foundations  of  the  House  were  rapidly  falling 
away,  and  leaving  its  increasing  responsibilities  to  be  borne  by 
their  successors.  Captain  James  Lovett,  whose  name  had  never 
been  out  of  the  record  from  the  appointment  of  the  first  Board, 
in  1824,  has  a  significant  star  placed  against  his  name  in  1850. 
He  was  "  an  attentive  and  valuable  member  of  the  Board,"  say 
his  companions,  "  and  of  its  committees,  so  long  as  age  and 

health  permitted,  always  an  earnest  friend He  has  been 

added,"  they  remark,  "  to  the  number  of  those  good  and  thought 
ful  men  whom  Providence  has  removed  from  earthly  duty,  after 
prolonging  their  lives  until  the  efficiency  of  an  institution, 
founded  by  their  wisdom  and  liberality,  has  become  widely 
known,  and  until  its  success  has  caused  the  foundation  of  other 
refuges  for  the  same  end,  and  conducted  upon  the  same  princi 
ples  as  their  own." 

Daniel  Seymour,  Esq.,  one  of  the  most  cultivated  and  intelli 
gent  men  whose  presence  ever  graced  the  Board,  and  who  had 


BELLEVUE. 


Daniel  Seymour,  Esq. — David  C.  Golden,  Esq. 


been  for  several  years  upon  the  Indenturing  Committee,  left  all 
earthly  service  in  the  same  year  (1850).  "  To  a  mincl  of  high 
order,  improved  by  travel  and  extensive  observation,  were  united 
habits  of  indefatigable  industry,  and  an  unwearied  zeal  in  the 
cause  of  benevolence."  His  attention  became  directed  in  a 
special  manner  to  the  wants  of  the  institution,  and  all  his  ener 
gies  were  enlisted  in  devising  and  carrying  out  measures  for 
increasing  and  extending  its  usefulness.  A  vice-president  of 
the  Board  also,  David  C.  Golden,  Esq.,  son  of  the  first  Presi 
dent,  fell  this  year.  He  was  "  for  many  years  a  manager,  zeal 
ous  and  untiring  in  its  cause,  as  he  was  wherever  philanthropy 
and  charity  were  invoked.  In  the  various  positions  he  held  in 
the  Board  he  gave  constant  proof  of  the  thoughtful  and  active 
benevolence  to  which  his  life  was  devoted,  and  for  which  his 
memory  will  long  be  cherished  by  the  poor  and  friendless,  by 
the  stranger  and  exile." 

While  these  good  men  were  resting  from  their  labors, "  their 
works  were  following  them."  The  Daily  Journal  is  full  of  the 
most  satisfactory  assurances  that  their  labors  have  not  been  in 
vain.  It  is  difficult  to  make  selections,  or  to  restrain  the  pen  in 
copying : 

"John  M.  N.,  who  was  indentured  from  here  about  seven 
years  ago,  called  to  see  us  to-day.  He  remained  about  two 
years  at  his  trade,  when  his  master's  shop  was  burned,  and  he 
gave  up  the  business.  John  was  intelligent  and  of  a  studious 
turn  of  mind,  and,  having  connected  himself  with  a  Christian 
church,  he  secured  friends  and  influence,  which  enabled  him  to 
get  a  collegiate  education.  Only  a  few  months  remain  to  com 
plete  his  course,  when  he  will  go,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
church  of  which  he  is  a  member,  as  a  missionary  to  the  heathen, 


182     A  HALF  CENTUKY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

From  Wretchedness  to  Comfort. 

and  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel.  His  early  history  was  not  prom 
ising." 

"  J.  S.,  a  lad  of  eighteen  years  of  age,  who  was  indentured 
to  a  trade  one  year  ago,  called  on  us,  having  been  permitted  by 
his  master  to  come  to  the  city  to  visit  his  parents.  We  have 
had  several  flattering  accounts  of  this  lad's  conduct,  and  have 
great  confidence  that  he  will  make  a  respectable  man.  He  has 
united  with  a  Christian  church,  and  shares  the  confidence  of  all 
who  know  him.  He  is  very  active  at  his  trade,  and  is  earning 
from  six  to  seven  dollars  per  week  for  his  master.  What  a 
transition  from  picking  up  rags  in  the  street  for  a  living  !  " 

"  A.  McD.,  who  was  indentured  two  years  ago,  visited  us  to 
day,  having  served  her  time  out  faithfully,  and  brings  an  excel 
lent  letter  of  commendation  from  her  employer.  She  comes 
well  clad,  and  is  quite  an  interesting  girl.  She  has  engaged  to 
return  in  a  few  days  and  remain  with  the  family  on  wages. 
Poor  child !  she  has  literally  been  snatched  from  ruin.  Her 
father  is  a  miserable  inebriate  ;  her  mother  is  in  the  penitentiary ; 
a  sister  is  in  the  almshouse,  maimed,  and  another  sister  is  a 
wretched  outcast.  This  family  presents  a  sad  picture,  and  most 
sadly  does  this  poor  girl  weep  over  it.  She  feels  that  a  provi 
dential  hand  directed  her  to  the  Refuge." 

"  J.  McC,  who  was  permitted  to  ship  in  the  United  States 
service  seventeen  years  ago,  called  on  us.  During  several  years 
past  he  has  been  employed  in  the  merchant  service  as  a  mate  of 
a  vessel.  He  has  a  wife  and  four  children,  whom,  by  prudence 
and  economy,  he  has  not  only  supported  comfortably,  but  he  has 
accumulated  some  property.  He  is  now  thirty-four  years  of 
age,  and  will  emigrate  to  California  with  his  family  in  a  few 
days." 


9  BELLE VUE.  133 


Clothed,  and  in  her  Eight  Mind. 


"  Your  letter  of  inquiry  relative  to  Sarah  E.  W.,  indentured 
to  me  in  1846,  lias  been  received.  In  reply,  I  am  happy  to  say 
she  is  still  a  member  of  my  family,  is  honest,  industrious,  and 
improved  in  education.  She  is  a  regular  attendant  on  the  Sab 
bath-school,  and  ambitious  of  future  respectability  and  useful 
ness.  She  has  been  hopefully  renewed  by  the  Divine  Spirit, 
and  was  one  of  twenty-three  who  made  a  public  profession  of 
their  faith  in  Christ,  in  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  this 
town,  a  short  time  since.  Her  heart  glows  with  gratitude  to  God 
for  the  way  in  which  she  has  been  thus  far  led,  and  she  is  an 
ticipating  the  time  when  she  can  appear  in  person  at  the  House 
of  Refuge,  and  thank  yourself,  the  managers,  and  the  matrons, 
that  she  ever  saw  that  institution,  and  left  it  for  the  quarter  that 
she  did." 

Such  instances  might  be  indefinitely  multiplied.  They  form 
the  most  assuring  evidences  of  the  reformatory  power  of  the 
Refuge,  and  of  the  kindness  with  which  its  discipline  has  been 
administered ;  the  inmates,  like  children  of  a  family,  reporting 
their  sorrows  and  their  successes  to  then-  well-remembered  and 
beloved  home. 


184      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Randall's  Island. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


As  early  as  December,  1848,  Mr.  David  C.  Golden,  in  view 
of  the  crowded  condition  of  the  institution,  three  hundred  and 
fifty-five  inmates  being  present  in  the  House  at  the  time,  moved 
the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  consider  the  best  mode  of 
providing  accommodations  for  the  increasing  number  of  subjects 
and  also  for  their  better  classification.  A  committee  was  ap 
pointed,  and  the  discussion  of  these  two  important  questions  was 
commenced. 

The  opening  of  the  Rochester  House,  in  1849,  delayed  for  a 
time  the  report  of  this  committee,  as  it  was  deemed  expedient 
to  learn  what  relief  it  would  bring  to  the  crowded  halls  of  the 
New  York  Refuge.  But  the  Western  House  at  once  justified 
the  wisdom  of  its  erection  by  developing  the  need  of  its  pro 
visions  for  the  northern  and  western  counties  of  the  State,  and 
it  was  able  to  afford  hardly  a  perceptible  relief  to  the  older  in 
stitution.  The  river  counties,  Kings  and  Queens,  and  New 
York  City,  as  the  influence  of  the  House  became  more  and  more 
appreciated,  overran  the  accommodations  at  Bellevue. 

In  January  of  1850,  Mr.  Seymour,  of  this  committee,  made  a 
report,  which  was  accepted,  urging  especially  the  importance  of 
securing  the  means  of  classification  and  the  separation  of  the 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  185 


Site  on  Ward's  Island :  Exchanged. 


more  vicious  inmates  from  the  others,  recommending  a  change 
of  location  and  increased  accommodations,  and  the  appointment 
of  a  committee  to  confer  with  the  city  authorities  in  reference  to 
the  exchange  of  the  property  of  the  Society  then  held,  for  a 
more  eligible  site.  This  committee  was  also  to  apply  to  the 
State  Legislature  for  aid  to  erect  the  new  buildings.  The  recom 
mendations  of  the  report  were  followed. 

Mr.  Seymour  was-  placed  at  the  head  of  a  committee  ap 
pointed  for  the  purposes  specified,  and  secured  from  the  corpora 
tion  of  the  city  a  prompt  response,  authorizing  the  Society  to 
sell  the  property  held  at  the  foot  of  Twenty-third  Street,  and 
to  appropriate  the  proceeds  to  the  purchase  of  another  site, 
and  the  erection  of  suitable  buildings.  About  ten  and  a  half 
acres  of  land  on  the  southern  shore  of  Ward's  Island,  nearly 
opposite  102d  Street,  a  very  secluded  site,  and  one  that  would 
not  be  likely  to  be  intruded  upon  for  purposes  of  business  or 
commerce,  were  first  purchased. 

Owing  to  an  objection  of  Governor  Fish,  to  some  of  the  pro 
visions  in  the  bill  which  passed  the  Legislature  of  1850,  em 
powering  the  Society  to  remove  their  House,  and  granting  them 
an  appropriation  toward  its  construction,  no  further  steps  were 
taken  until  the  succeeding  year. 

Upon  consideration,  the  difficulty  of  access  to  the  site  upon 
Ward's  Island,  and  other  objections,  induced  the  Society  to  pro 
pose  to  the  city  government  an  exchange  of  this  property 
which  they  had  purchased,  for  some  thirty  acres  of  rocky  and 
marshy  land,  forming  the  southeastern  point  of  Randall's  Island. 
This  proposition  was  accepted,  and  the  building  committee  com 
menced  its  important  work. 

Nothing  could  have  been  more  unpromising  than  the  origi- 


186      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Forbidding  Appearance  of  the  selected  Site. 

nal  appearance  of  the  place.  Few  sites  are  more  charming 
now  than  the  noble  buildings,  surrounded  with  their  hand 
somely-arranged  grounds  and  fruitful  gardens — a  very  happy 
symbol  of  the  work  upon  which  the  Society  for  half  a  century 
has  been  engaged.  Her  grounds  have  been  recovered  from 
stony  wastes,  and  from  low  and  unwholesome  marshes,  and  are 
now  both  beautiful  and  useful.  The  inmates  of  her  Houses  have 
been  often  the  hardest  and  most  unpromising  children  of  the 
land,  taken  from  the  lowest  haunts,  and  themselves  noxious 
members  of  the  community.  Many  of  them  are  now  an  honor 
to  her  culture,  and  to  the  State  that  has  generously  offered  the 
means  both  for  the  physical  and  moral  changes  which  have  been 
wrought  out  here. 

Of  the  place  the  committee  say :  "  The  Cemetery,  or  Pot- 
'ter's  Field,  occupied  nearly  all  the  best  land,  and  the  remainder 
was  either  swamp  or  rock.  On  the  western  front  the  shore  was 
indented  by  a  cove,  where  the  tide  at  high  water  came  up 
nearly  to  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  steps  of  the  main  en 
trance  to  the  Boy's  House ;  while,  on  the  north,  there  arose  a 
considerable  rocky  elevation,  covering  a  portion  of  the  ground 
upon  which  now  stands  the  entrance  of  the  north  wing,  the 
termination  of  this  rock  being  immediately  upon  an  extended 
swamp.  To  the  south,  there  was  another  mass  of  rock  occupy 
ing  a  great  part  of  the  space  now  covered  by  the  building  of 
the  Girl's  Dwelling,  reaching  to  a  height  nearly  equal  to  some 
of  the  buildings  afterward  erected  thereon." 

The  estimated  expense  of  grading  and  preparing  the  grounds 
for  the  buildings  was  so  heavy  ($20,000),  that  the  committee 
would  not  move  forward  until  they  had  submitted  it  to  the  con 
sideration  of  the  Governor,  Washington  Hunt,  who  from  the 


ROBERT  KELLY,  ESQ. 


p.  187, 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  187 


Architects.— Death  of  Hon.  Stephen  Allen. 


first,  manifested  a  lively  interest  in  the  undertaking,  and  to  the 
State  Comptroller.  "  Go  forward,"  said  the  Governor,  "  and  I 
will  stand  by  you." 

The  act  of  the  Legislature,  appropriating  $50,000,  required 
that  provision  should  be  made  for  one  thousand  inmates.  Three 
hundred  dollars  were  offered  for  such  a  plan  of  the  new  build 
ings  as  might  be  selected  by  the  committee,  and  eight  competi 
tors  presented  their  designs.  That  of  Messrs.  Dwight  and  Bry 
ant  was  accepted. 

These  well-known  architects  had  made  such  generous  pro 
visions  in  the  dimensions  and  arrangements  of  the  immense 
buildings,  that  several  of  the  committee,  although  reluctant  to 
disturb  the  admirable  proportions,  became  alarmed  at  the  great 
cost  which  would  be  entailed  upon  them.  Finally,  Mr.  B.  G. 
Hatfield,  of  this  city,  was  instructed  to  reduce  the  plans  to  meet 
the  views  of  the  majority  of  the  committee,  and  was  appointed 
architect  for  the  construction  of  the  buildings. 

This  year  (1852)  the  honored  president  of  the  Board,  Hon. 
Stephen  Allen,  closed  his  active  and  valuable  life  in  the  terrible 
catastrophe  heretofore  mentioned.  The  Society  had  been  sin 
gularly  fortunate  in  its  two  presiding  officers,  in  securing  men 
of  remarkable  executive  ability,  of  great  persistence  of  purpose, 
and  sharing  in  a  very  large  measure  the  confidence  and  respect 
of  the  community.  It  was  equally  successful  in  the  election  of 
the  successor  to  Mr.  Allen,  Robert  Kelly,  Esq.  He  was  the  son 
of  a  successful  merchant  of  this  city,  entered  Columbia.  College 
at  the  head  of  his  class,  retained  the  position  through  his  course, 
and  graduated  with  the  highest  honors  in  1826,  when  he  was 
but  eighteen  years  of  age.  His  father  died  a  year  before  his 
graduation.  At  the  urgent  solicitation  of  his  brothers,  a  few  years 


188      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Eobert  Kelly,  Esq. 

older  than  himself,  he  entered  into  business  with  them,  rather 
than  upon  a  profession.  "  During  his  commercial  career,"  says  E. 
S.  Yan  Winkle,  Esq.,  in  a  published  tribute  to  his  memory,  "  he 
was  distinguished  for  perseverance  and  untiring  industry,  for 
extraordinary  attention  to  detail,  for  great  decision  of  character, 
and  for  an  integrity  and  sense  of  honor  which  no  temptation 
could  reach.  No  misrepresentation,  however  slight,  on  the 
part  of  his  clerks,  was  ever  allowed  to  pass  unrebuked.  By  the 
establishment  of  just  and  inflexible  rules  in  every  department, 
he  acquired  for  himself  and  the  house  a  reputation  for  integrity 
and  fairness  never  excelled." 

Ten  years  of  business  life  conducted  upon  these  principles, 
commenced,  indeed,  with  a  considerable  capital  left  him  by  his 
father,  endowed  him  with  an  ample  fortune,  and  he  retired  from 
active  connection  with  business  before  he  had  reached  his  twenty- 
ninth  year. 

During  his  active  life  he  had  kept  up  his  scholarship,  and 
become  master  of  the  French,  Spanish,  Italian,  German,  and  He 
brew  languages.  Upon  leaving  business  he  did  not  simply 
return  to  his  beloved  studies,  but  while  he  was  able  to  devote 
more  time  to  them,  he  gave  his  best  years  and  ripened  powers 
to  the  various  public  societies  and  charities  that  eagerly  availed 
themselves  of  his  rare  abilities.  He  became  a  trustee  of  the 
New  York  and  of  Madison  Universities,  and  was  the  president 
of  the  Board  of  Education  when  the  Free  Academy,  now  New 
York  College,  was  established — an  enterprise  in  which  he  was 
peculiarly  interested.  "  The  success  of  the  scheme,"  says  Mr. 
Yan  Winkle,  "  both  of  study  and  discipline,  is  enough  alone  to 
stamp  his  name  as  one  of  the  most  enlightened  and  judicious 
among  the  friends  of  education."  The  portrait  of  his  fine,  intel- 


RANDALL'S   ISLAND.  139 


His  Connection  with  the  House  of  Refuge. 


ligent  face,  of  which  our  engraving  is  a  poor  representation, 
hangs  in  an  honored  place  upon  the  walls  of  the  hall  of  the 
Board  of  Education.  Mr.  Kelly  recommended  the  establish 
ment  also,  after  a  few  years  of  experiment  with  the  institution 
for  males,  of  an  academy  of  equally  liberal  scholarship  for  the 
other  sex.  He  died  before  he  coifld  initiate  so  praiseworthy  an 
enterprise,  and  the  undertaking  still  awaits  the  "  man  and  the 
hour." 

He  became  connected  with  the  management  of  the  House  of 
Refuge  in  1839,  and  from  that  time  until  his  death  the  institu 
tion  retained  a  remarkable  hold  upon  his  sympathies.  His  bi 
ographer  says :  "  He  regarded  this  charity  with  more  favor  than 
any  other,  because  he  believed  it  to  be  the  most  useful  of  all  the 
truly  benevolent  institutions  which  adorn  our  city.  He  would 
often,  with  trembling  voice,  tell  of  cases  of  reform,  where  the 
vile  had  been  reclaimed  by  its  influence  and  had  become  good 
and  virtuous  citizens."  *  He  was  peculiarly  fitted  for  the  place 
and  the  circumstances,  when  called  to  be  the  president  of  the 
Board  of  Managers  upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Allen.  He  was  a  re 
markable  presiding  officer.  "  As  a  presiding  officer,"  says  Mr. 
Van  Winkle,  "  over  deliberate  assemblies  or  public  meetings,  he 
will  be  long  remembered  as  being  almost  unequalled.  Having 
complete  command  of  temper,  a  dignified  and  most  courteous 
manner,  with  perfect  fairness  toward  those  who  differed  from  him, 
and  a  keen  sagacity  and  prompt  decision,  which  enabled  him  to 
forward  business  and  give  the  proceedings  a  practical  direction, 
he  earned  a  reputation  in  this  respect  second  to  no  man  in  the 
State."  But  he  became  the  head  of  the  institution  at  an  hour 
of  peculiar  responsibility.  The  Board  had  just  entered  upon  an 

*  "  A  Tribute  to  the  Memory  of  Robert  Kelly,"  by  E.  S.  Van  Winkle. 


190      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
His  lamented  Death. 

undertaking  involving  great  pecuniary  liabilities,  and  these  were 
to  be  met  by  its  success  in  convincing  successive  Legislatures  of 
the  necessity  and  economy  of  the  large  appropriations  required. 
Mr.  Kelly  took  broad,  manly,  and  hopeful  views,  and  never  for 
a  moment  distrusted  the  good  sense,  honor,  or  generosity  of  his 
State.  He  entered  upon  his  duties  with  the  laying  of  the  cor 
ner-stone  of  the  new  buildings,  and  closed  them  with  his  elo 
quent  dedicatory  address. 

As  president  of  the  Board,  "  he  was  the  principal  instigator 
and  mover  of  an  extensive  reform  in  its  management  and  disci 
pline."  No  man's  mark  is  more  deeply  impressed  upon  its  regula 
tions  than  his.  He  was,  indeed,  a  martyr  to  his  interest  in  the  in 
stitution.  Delaying  into  the  evening  of  April  27,  1856,  that  he 
might  attend  an  examination  of  the  schools,  and  crossing  East 
River  in  an  open  boat,  he  was  seized  with  a  severe  cold.  He  never 
recovered  from  it.  Although  no  danger  was  apprehended  at  first, 
the  attack  increased  in  violence  until  he  peacefully  departed, 
fully  sustained  by  the  grace  of  the  Gospel,  of  which,  from  his 
youth,  he  had  been  an  humble  and  faithful  disciple.  "  He  died 
in  the  midst  of  the  community  in  which  he  was  born  and  reared ; 
in  the  midst  of  which  he  had  displayed  his  remarkable  qualities ; 
in  which  his  virtues  were  known,  and  by  which  they  were  ap 
preciated.  Seldom  has  the  death  of  a  private  citizen  been  fol 
lowed  by  such  universal  regret.  With  the  public  acknowledg 
ment  of  his  worth,"  says  his  memorialist,  "  by  the  civic  authori 
ties,  and  by  the  numerous  scientific,  political,  financial,  and  be 
nevolent  bodies  he  was  connected  with,  we  have  mingled  ours  " 
(the  "  Column,"  of  which  social  and  literary  club  he  was  an  hon 
ored  and  beloved  member). 

*  "  Tribute  to  the  Memory  of  Robert  Kelly." 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  191 


Memorial  of  Managers. — Laying  of  Corner-stone. 


His  colleagues  say  of  him,  in  the  report  that  announces  his 
decease :  "  We  regret  to  be  obliged  to  record  the  great  loss  the 
institution  has  sustained  in  the  removal  by  death  of  its  late  presi 
dent,  Robert  Kelly.  For  years  he  had  taken  a  great  interest  in 
this  institution,  and  had  devoted  much  time,  and  thought,  and 
labor,  to  put  it  upon  a  firm  foundation.  In  the  midst  of  a  vari 
ety  of  pressing  duties,  he  always  placed  his  judgment  and  influ 
ence  at  its  service,  and  our  buildings  on  Randall's  Island  will  be 
a  lasting  memorial  of  his  lofty  ambition  to  be  useful.  The  good 
which  he  has  done  will  outlive  those  whom  he  benefited.  Our 
institutions  profited  largely  by  his  life;  his  departure  at  this 
period  seems  most  unfortunate.  He  had  exerted  himself  with 
great  perseverance  to  procure  the  funds  necessary  to  pay  our 
debts  and  complete  our  buildings,  and  our  success  in  these  par 
ticulars  in  his  lifetime  would  have  crowned  one  of  his  favorite 
labors." 

The  corner-stone  of  the  main  building  of  the  boys'  depart 
ment  was  laid  upon  the  24th  of  November,  1852,  in  the  presence 
of  the  officers  of  the  Society,  the  mayor  and  corporation  of  the 
city,  and  a  large  number  of  guests.  After  the  usual  introduc 
tory  services,  Hon.  A.  C.  Kingsland,  mayor  of  the  city,  was  in 
troduced  and  made  an  appropriate  address.  "  The  occasion,"  he 
remarked,  "  on  which  we  are  assembled  is  one  of  no  ordinary 
importance  and  interest — importance  in  view  of  the  influence 
which  the  labor  this  day  commenced  is  to  have  upon  the  rising 
generation,  and  interest  in  view  of  the  truly  noble  and  philan 
thropic  motives  of  those  associated  in  the  enterprise.  We  are 
not  here  merely  to  lay  the  corner-stone  of  a  public  edifice  with 
imposing  ceremony ;  we  are  here  to  commence  the  foundation 
of  a  building  which  may  in  time  send  forth  to  the  world  wise, 


192      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Mayor  Kingsland's  Address. 

good,  and  virtuous  citizens,  whose  influence  and  example  will  be 
felt  and  acknowledged  far  and  wide The  youth  grow 
ing  up  in  our  midst  ^  in  vice  and  ignorance,  without  moral  re 
straint,  may  be  placed  within  the  reach  of  proper  care  and  cul 
ture,  through  the  medium  of  such  an  institution  as  this ;  habits 
of  industry  and  discipline  may  be  acquired  which  will  follow 
them  into  the  world  and  render  them  good  and  useful  citizens. 
And  many,  who  otherwise  might  find  a  home  in  a  prison-cell, 
or  end  an  ignominious  career  upon  the  gallows,  may  live  to  bless 
the  day  in  which  they  were  thrown  under  the  kind  and  paternal 
influence  which  this  association  seeks  to  impart. 

"  I  am  very  happy,  gentlemen,  to  have  the  honor,  as  chief 
magistrate  of  this  city,  of  taking  an  official  part  in  these  ceremo 
nies;  as  a  private  citizen,  my  wannest  sympathies  have  ever 
been  enlisted  on  behalf  of  the  association,  whose  members  now 
surround  me,  and  I  am  glad  to  lend  my  official  cooperation  to  a 
measure  which  will  tend  to  enhance  so  greatly  its  usefulness  and 
enlarge  the  sphere  of  its  operations,  the  gratifying  results  of 
which  must  cause  a  thrill  of  pleasure  to  every  heart." 

The  mayor  then  proceeded  to  perform  the  ceremony  of  lay 
ing  the  corner-stone,  the  secretary  of  the  Building  Committee, 
J.  W.  C.  Leveridge,  Esq.,  having  deposited  in  a  cavity  of  the 
stone  all  the  published  documents  relating  to  the  history  and 
discipline  of  the  institution. 

At  the  close  of  these  ceremonies,  Mr.  Kelly,  as  president  of 
the  Board,  delivered  a  very  interesting  and  impressive  discourse. 
Opening  with  a  full  outline  of  the  history  of  the  Society  from 
its  origin,  describing  the  close  relation  of  the  Board  to  its  man 
agement,  and  referring  to  the  sources  from  which  the  institution 
derived  its  support,  he  adds :  "  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  So- 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  193 


President  Kelly's  Discourse. 


ciety  is  a  private  corporation,  employed  by  the  State  as  the  care 
taker,  educator,  and  reformer  of  its  juvenile  vagrants  and  offend 
ers.  But  though  a  private  corporation,  it  is  completely  under 
the  control  of  the  representatives  of  the  people.  All  the  inmates 
it  admits  it  receives  by  law  through  regular  commitments  by 
judges  and  police  magistrates,  and  when  it  shall  be  found  not  to 
fulfil  its  objects  properly  the  law  can  take  away  all  its  subjects 
and  put  an  end  to  its  operations.  It  is  an  organization  for  the 
enlistment  of  a  body  of  volunteers  devoting  themselves  to  a  be 
nevolent  task,  giving  a  full  account  of  their  action,  accumulating 
a  store  of  experience  in  their  work,  and  continued  in  their  trust 
until  their  services  shall  be  no  longer  recaiired. 

"  The  position  of  the  Society  toward  the  State  was  presented 
with  characteristic  force  and  eccentricity  by  the  late  reverend 
and  venerable  Dr.  Stanford,  so  long  the  chaplain  of  our  public 
charitable  institutions,  in  a  sermon  preached  in  the  House  of 
Refuge,  on  the  first  Christmas-day  after  its  opening.  'Take 
this  child  away  and  nurse  it  for  me,  and  I  will  give  thee  thy 
wages,'  was  the  text.  The  daughter  of  Pharaoh  represented 
the  State,  and  this  Society  was  the  nurse  into  whose  arms  the 
child  was  committed.  The  good  doctor  did  not  forget  the  ap 
plication,  which  he  urged  with  great  zeal,  that  the  nurse's  wages 
should  be  punctually  and  liberally  paid.  The  Managers  of  the 
Society  will  feel  it  their  duty  at  the  present  juncture,  in  view  of 
the  heavy  expenditure  they  are  compelled  to  undertake,  to  repeat 
the  application  to  the  city  and  State  authorities." 

Of  the  result  of  the  labors  of  the  Society,  continued  at  that 
time  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  he  remarks :  "  It  is 
not  easy  for  us  to  estimate  the  good  that  has  been  accomplished 

in  the  House  during  the  twenty-eight  years  that  it  has  been  in 
13 


194      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Results  of  the  Training  of  the  Refuge. 

existence.  A  very  large  majority  of  its  five  thousand  graduates, 
of  both  sexes,  have  been  saved  without  doubt,  whereas  the 
greater  part  probably  would  otherwise  have  been  lost  to  them 
selves  and  others,  ruined  for  time  and  eternity,  and  fated,  by  the 
law  of  their  moral  natures,  to  spread,  wherever  they  should 
go,  the  leprosy  of  evil.  One  of  the  pleasantest  circumstances 
connected  with  our  labors  is  the  evidence  we  are  constantly  re 
ceiving  of  an  entire  change  of  character  that  has  taken  place  in 
children  who  have  been  under  our  care,  as  shown  by  letters  from 
them,  by  information  from  those  with  whom  they  are  living,  and 
occasionally  by  visits  at  the  House  of  men  who  introduce  them 
selves  as  former  refuge-boys,  and  express  their  gratitude  for 
what  the  institution  did  for  them." 

Having  been  twice  disturbed  in  the  sites  selected  for  the 
House,  by  the  encroachments  of  a  rapidly-increasing  city,  he 
congratulates  his  audience  upon  the  assured  prospect  of  perma 
nence.  They  were  now  "safely,  conveniently,  and  admirably 
located,  where  streets  cannot  cut  through  the  premises,  and  the 
tide  of  the  city's  population  can  never  dash  against  its  walls." 
Of  the  Commissioners  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  who  had  the 
charge  of  the  nurseries  connected  with  the  Almshouse  depart 
ment,  at  the  upper  end  of  the  island,  he  says :  "  We  mean  to  be 
good  neighbors,  only  we  intend  to  compete  with  them  in  the 
supply  of  apprentices,  and  gain,  if  we  can,  the  reputation  of 
furnishing  the  most  useful  and  best-behaved  children.  Our 
formidable  wall  of  enclosure  will  protect  our  children  from  the 
contamination  of  theirs,  or  vice  versa,  as  the  case  may  be." 

He  closes  this  admirable  address  with  these  eloquent  sen 
timents  :  "  We  have  now,  upon  one  of  our  isles  of  the  un 
fortunate,  laid  the  corner-stone  of  a  temple  of  humanity.  This 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  195 


The  beautiful  Islands  of  the  Harbor,  and  their  Purpose. 

range  of  beautiful  islands  seems  to  have  been  set  on  purpose  to 
be  a  moral  rampart  around  our  great  city.  The  towers  which 
shall  be  erected  upon  them,  unlike  the  fortresses  which  encircle 
the  cities  of  the  Old  World,  are  not  for  our  defence  against 
foreign  enemies,  nor  to  overawe  our  own  peaceful  citizens,  but 
for  the  protection  of  the  destitute,  and  for  a  defence  against 
crime  and  depravity.  There  is  something  peculiarly  appropriate 
in  such  a  site  for  the  purpose  of  our  institution.  The  unfor 
tunate  and  erring  youth  who  shall  be  gathered  upon  this  Isle  of 
Refuge,  separated  from  the  city  by  yonder  silvery  channel,  and 
breathing  the  pure  air  of  heaven,  will  look,  within  a  short 
period,  upon  a  dense  mass  of  buildings,  homes  of  comfort  and 
domestic  happiness,  reared  by  industry,  and  tenanted  by  thrift, 
with  churches  and  school-houses  scattered  among  them,  and  will 
see  what  labor  and  virtuous  endeavor,  the  restraints  of  law,  and 
the  influence  of  education  and  religion,  have  done  for  the  great 
body  of  that  vast  population. 

"  I  have  called  our  House  of  Refuge  a  temple  of  humanity ; 
and,  when  I  think  of  its  purpose,  to  receive  the  young  within 
its  shelter,  reclaim  and  restore  them,  teach  them  the  duties  of 
the  present  life,  and  tell  them  of  the  life  herafter,  it  seems  to 
me  to  be,  in  its  spirit  and  object,  an  embodiment  of  that  beauti 
ful  expression  of  the  Saviour  of  mankind — (  Suffer  little  chil 
dren  to  come  unto  me?  " 

We  have  seen  how  suggestions  received  from  one  continent 
become  the  seeds  of  abundant  harvests  of  good  in  another.  As 
early  as  1820,  while  the  great  Scotch  divine,  Dr.  Chalmers,  was 
the  minister  of  the  Tron  Church,  in  Glasgow,  with  an  outlying 
parish  of  ten  thousand  souls,  he  became  deeply  impressed  with 
the  slight  benefit  received  by  a  large  portion  of  these  thousands 


196      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Dr.  Chalmers's  Experiment  in  Glasgow. 

from  the  Christian  truths  uttered  in  the  house  of  God.  He  saw 
and  felt  the  impossibility  of  drawing  the  poor,  intemperate, 
miserable  criminal  population,  which,  of  all  others,  most  needed 
the  Gospel,  to  the  public  services  of  the  sanctuary.  They  will 
not  come  to  the  church,  but  the  Master  has  sent  the  church  to 
them :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature." 

Dr.  Chalmers  determined  to  institute  an  experiment.  Hav 
ing  secured  the  services  of  the  afterward  deservedly  celebrated 
Edward  Irving,  at  that  time  just  ready  to  enter  upon  the  office 
of  the  ministry,  a  man  eminently  devoted,  with  all  his  eccen 
tricities,  he  commenced  the  work  of  evangelizing  the  whole 
district,  calling  in  as  additional  laborers  the  deacons  of  his 
church ;  day-schools  and  Sunday-schools,  lectures  and  public 
Sabbath  services,  were  held  in  the  humblest  accommodations,  and 
near  to  the  residence  of  the  most  neglected  portion  of  the  popu 
lation.  The  experiment  was  peculiarly  successful,  and  the  in 
terest  excited  by  it  never  left  the  mind  of  the  great  preacher. 

Long  after,  when  a  theological  professor,  resident  in  Edin 
burgh,  in  1845,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five,  he  determined  to  or 
ganize  another  movement  for  carrying  the  light  of  Christian 
truth  into  one  of  the  most  abandoned  portions  of  the  city.  The 
scene  of  this  most  successful  and  encouraging  experiment  was  a 
part  of  the  city  in  much  the  same  moral  condition  as  the 
worst  portions  of  the  Fourth  and  Sixth  Wards  of  New  York,  or 
as  the  Five  Points  before  its  redemption.  "  The  locality  se 
lected,"  says  Dr.  Hanna,  in  his  interesting  biography  of  his 
father-in-law,*  "  as  the  scene  of  his  projected  enterprise,  was  the 
West  Port ;  a  part  of  Edinburgh  to  which,  a  few  years  pre- 

*  Memoir  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  vol.  iv.,  p.  388. 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  197 


West  Port,  Edinburgh :  its  moral  Condition. 


viously,  an  infamous  notoriety  had  been  attached  by  those  secret 
murders  (by  a  person  named  Burke),  the  discovery  of  which 
sent  a  thrill  of  horror  through  the  land."  The  population  here 
seemed  lost  to  all  the  decencies  of  a  civilized  life.  The  children 
were  growing  up  in  ignorance  of  any  thing  useful,  but  nurtured 
in  vice.  "  The  physical  and  moral  condition  of  this  community 
was  deplorable ;  one-fourth  were  paupers  on  the  poor-roll,  and 
one-fourth  were  street-beggars,  thieves,  or  prostitutes." 

The  doctor  was  again  successful  in  finding  a  pious  and  labo 
rious  co-worker,  Rev.  Mr.  Tasker,  who  entered  heartily  into  his 
grand  idea  of  changing  this  barren  waste,  with  God's  blessing, 
into  a  fruit-bearing  Christian  field.  When  Mr.  Parker  "  made 
his  first  visits  to  some  of  the  filthiest  closes,  it  was  no  uncommon 
thing  for  him  to  find  from  twenty  to  thirty  men,  women,  and 
children,  huddled  together  in  one  putrid  dwelling,  lying  indis 
criminately  on  the  floor,  waiting  the  return  of  the  bearer  of  some 
well-concocted  begging  letter,  or  the  coming  on  of  that  darkness 
under  which  they  might  sally  out,  to  earn,  by  fair  means  or  foul, 
the  purchase-money  of  renewed  debauchery.  Upon  one  occa 
sion,  he  entered  a  tenement  with  from  twelve  to  twenty  apart 
ments,  where  every  human  being,  man  and  woman,  were  so 
drunk  that  they  could  not  hear  their  own  squalid  infants  crying 
in  vain  to  them  for  food.  He  purchased  some  bread  for  the 
children,  and,  entering  a  few  minutes  afterward  a  neighboring 
dram-shop,  he  found  a  half-drunk  mother  driving  a  bargain  for 
more  whiskey  with  the  very  bread  which  her  famishing  children 
should  be  eating !  He  went  once  to  a  funeral,  and  found  the 
assembled  company  all  so  drunk  around  the  corpse,  that  he  had 
to  go  and  beg  some  sober  neighbors  to  come  and  carry  the  coffin 
to  the  grave.  It  was  a  formidable  enterprise — to  many  it  would 


198      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Old  Tannery  near  Burke's  Den. 

have  seemed  altogether  hopeless — to  come  into  close  quarters 
with  such  a  population.  Aided,  however,  by  that  band  of 
zealous  associates  which  his  public  lectures  and  many  private 
interviews  by  which  they  were  followed  up,  had  gathered  around 
him,  Dr.  Chalmers  went  hopefully  forward."  * 

The  great  problem  was,  to  aid  this  wretched  community  to 
help  itself,  and  not  to  perpetuate  its  pauperism  by  simply  carry 
ing  them  food  and  improving  their  homes ;  to  inspire  them  to 
seek  for  their  children  the  advantages  of  an  education,  and  the 
privileges  of  the  house  of  God,  and  not  merely  build  school  and 
meeting  houses  for  them.  A  school-room  was  hired  "  at  the  end 
of  the  very  close  down  which  Burke  and  his  associates  decoyed 
their  unconscious  victims.  Fronting  the  den  in  which  those 
horrid  murders  were  committed,  stood  an  old  deserted  tannery, 
whose  upper  store-loft,  approached  from  without  by  a  flight  of 
projecting  wooden  stairs,  was  selected  as  affording  the  best  ac 
commodation  which  the  neighborhood  could  supply.  Low-roofed 
and  roughly  floored,  its  raw,  unplastered  walls,  pierced  at  irreg 
ular  intervals  \vith  windows  of  unshapely  form,  it  had  little 
either  of  the  scholastic  or  the  ecclesiastical  in  its  aspect ,  but 
never  was  the  true  work  of  school  and  church  better  done  than 
in  that  old  tannery-loft  of  the  West  Port."  * 

A  nominal  sum  to  awaken  a  feeling  of  independence  on  the 
part  of  parents,  was  charged  to  secure  the  advantages  of  the 
school,  one  of  the  best  teachers  that  could  be  found  in  the 
country  having  been  obtained  for  the  position.  "Within  two 
years,  through  the  aid  of  Christian  friends,  and  always  securing 
the  small  contributions  and  consequent  personal  interest  of  the 
people  themselves,  a  comfortable  church  and  school-room  had 

*  Memoir  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  vol.  iv.,  p.  395. 


RANDALL'S   ISLAND.  199 


Dr.  Chalmers's  View  of  the  Experiment. 


been  built,  a  model  tenement-house  constructed,  and  the  tone  of 
the  community  wonderfully  raised.  The  great  preacher  did  not 
live  to  see  the  full  result  of  his  experiment,  but  in  his  last  circu 
lar,  issued  before  his  death,  he  anticipated  it.  "  We  have  long 
thought,"  he  said,  "  that  the  failure  of  every  former  attempt  to 
reclaim  the  masses  of  our  population  is  due  to  the  insufficiency 
of  the  means  which  have  been  brought  to  bear  upon  them ;  and 
while  deeply  sensible  that  means  alone  will  prove  of  no  effect 
without  the  blessing  from  on  high  on  the  devotedness  and  con 
scientious  labors  of  those  into  whose  hands  they  are  intrusted, 
yet  we  hold  it  irrational  to  look  for  any  great  or  sensible  result 
with  so  slender  an  apparatus  as  that  of  Sabbath-schools  and 
prayer-meetings,  and  rare  occasional  visits  from  house  to  house, 
under  the  conduct,  it  may  be,  of  a  few  missionaries  for  the  whole 
of  a  large  town — each  sinking  under  the  weight  of  the  many 
thousands  who  have  been  committed  to  his  care,  and  dispirited 
by  the  want  of  any  such  visible  fruit  as  might  serve  to  satisfy 
both  himself  and  his  employers  that  his  efforts  are  not  wholly 
dissipated  or  lost,  to  all  observation  at  least,  in  that  mighty 
aggregate  of  human  beings  wherewith  he  has  to  deal.  It  is  un 
der  this  conviction  that  we  have  long  advocated  the  concentra 
tion  of  commensurate  efforts  and  means  on  a  small  enough  terri 
tory.  What  cannot  be  done  in  bulk,  and  all  at  once,  let  us  try 

in  separate  portions The  very  essence  of  our  scheme  lies 

in  the  thorough  operation  of  what  we  have  called  the  territorial 
principle.  We  limit  our  attention  to  a  single  district  or  locality, 
itself  split  up  into  sub-districts,  having  each  a  Christian  agent 
attached  to  it ;  so  that  not  a  home  or  family  which  might  not  be 
frequently  and  habitually  visited  by  one  having  the  charge  of 
not  more,  if  possible,  than  twenty  households.  By  this  busy 


200      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
The  final  Result  of  the  Mission. 

internal  missionary  process  a  vast  amount  of  direct  good  might 
be  done." 

All  these  visits  were  made  to  tell  upon  the  economical  and 
spiritual  well-being  of  the  population,  and  especially  upon  the 
constant  attendance  of  the  children  upon  school,  and  of  all  upon 
the  public  services  of  the  Sabbath. 

In  five  years  after  the  far-seeing  and  devoted  originator  was 
in  his  grave,  the  ripe  fruit  of  his  early  sowing  began  to  appear. 
The  whole  character  of  the  locality  was  changed.  Between  four 
and  five  hundred  children  that,  except  for  this  truly  Christian 
movement,  would  have  been  the  abandoned  outcasts  of  the 
streets,  were  in  daily  attendance  upon  the  schools  ;  "  nor  icas  it 
known  that  there  was  a  single  child  of  a  family  resident  with 
in  the  West  Port  wlio  was  not  at  school."  Weil  may  the  bi 
ographer  of  Dr.  Chalmers  remark :  "  Of  what  other  like  district 
in  this  country  could  the  same  be  said,  and  by  what  other  in 
strumentality  could  it  have  been  accomplished  ?  The  most  com 
modious  school-room  might  have  been  built,  and  the  ablest 
teacher  salaried,  and  the  education  offered  gratis  to  all  the  fami 
lies,  and  yet  hundreds  of  these  children  have  remained  untaught. 
It  was  the  district  visiting,  and  the  zeal  especially  of  those  ladies 
by  whom  a  special  oversight  of  the  children's  regular  attendance 
at  school  was  undertaken,  by  which  this  great  achievement  has 
mainly  been  accomplished." 

Such  an  experiment  never  stands  long  alone.  It  becomes 
like  the  prophetic  handful  of  corn  sown  upon  the  mountain,  the 
harvest  of  it  soon  "  shakes  like  Lebanon."  Every  large  city  has 
its  West  Ports — poverty,  and  vice,  and  crime,  naturally  concen 
trate  in  local  centres,  and  become  the  more  terrible  by  this  very 
aggregation.  These  plague-spots,  however,  do  not  confine  their 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  201 


Such  West  Ports  in  all  Cities. 


corrupting  influence  within  their  own  limits,  but  poison  the 
whole  atmosphere.  When,  a  year  or  two  since,  our  city  was 
threatened  with  the  ravages  of  the  Asiatic  cholera,  there  were 
certain  quarters,  crowded  with  overflowing  tenement-houses,  and 
reeking  with  filth,  where  it  was  well  understood  that  the  fatal 
plague  would  make  its  first  appearance,  and  from  whence,  if  it 
were  once  permitted  to  gather  head,  it  would  spread  over  the 
whole  island.  Prompt  and  energetic  measures  were  taken  to 
purify  these  predestined  seats  of  disease,  and  so  efficient  were 
the  sanitary  applications  in  these  unwholesome  quarters,  that 
even  they  were  defended  from  the  pestilence,  and  the  whole  city 
was  saved.  There  are  the  same  well-known  and  well-defined 
centres  of  vice  and  crime ;  indeed  they  are  the  same  filthy  local 
ities  where  all  forms  of  physical  disease  are  bred.*  The  mala- 

*  Mr.  Oliver  Dyer  thus  describes  a  New  York  tenement-bouse :  "  A  per 
son  who  has  never  seen  a  New  York  tenant-house  can  form  no  idea  of  these 
structures.  Some  of  them  are  eight  stories  in  height,  including  basement, 
and  are  built  two  to  a  lot  (25  by  100  feet),  one  in  front  and  one  in  rear,  for 
economy's  sake.  The  basement  is  usually  crowded  with  families ;  and  some 
times  the  cellar  underneath,  lying  below  high-water  mark,  and  frequently 
flooded  by  the  tide,  swarms  with  squalid  women  and  children,  burrowing  in 
miasmatic  lairs.  A  hall,  about  three  and  a  half  feet  in  width,  usually  runs 
through  the  centre  of  the  building,  dividing  it  into  two  tiers  .of  apartments 
on  each  floor,  from  basement  to  attic,  and  these  apartments  are  subdivided 
into  front,  middle,  and  rear,  making  six  suites  on  each  floor.  The  first-floor 
fronts  are  often  used  as  low  groggeries,  with  the  families  of  the  owners  living 
in  the  rear  of  them,  and  the  remainder  of  the  building  is  packed,  six  families 
to  a  floor,  clear  to  the  roof.  These  houses  are  sometimes  built  twice  and 
even  thrice  as  deep  as  the  one  we  have  been  describing,  with  six  and  even 
eight  suites  of  apartments  on  each  side  of  the  hall,  making  from  twelve  to 
sixteen  suites  to  a  floor. 

"  The  expression,  '  suites  of  apartments,'  will  be  certain  to  mislead  the 
reader  as  to  the  real  character  of  the  rooms  in  which  these  people  live  with 
out  a  special  statement  on  the  subject.  They  should  really  be  called  sets  of 
dens.  They  usually  consist  of  two  rooms,  a  living-room  and  a  sleeping-room 


202      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Their  poisonous  Effects  upon  the  Community. 

rial  influence  of  these  localities  poisons  the  whole  city.  It  is  an 
impressive  saying  of  Mr.  Oliver  Dyer,  that  no  child  is  safe  so 
long  as  any  child  is  neglected.  Five  or  six  little  girls,  all  of  them 
under  fifteen  years  of  age,  were  taken  from  one  of  the  lowest 
haunts  of  the  city  and  sent  by  the  Police  Court  to  the  House  of 
Refuge.  Their  parents  were  in  good  circumstances,  and  very 
respectable  persons.  They  were  quite  overwhelmed  to  learn 
what  had  occurred.  They  had  sent  them  every  day  to  school  or  to 
their  work,  and  they  had  never  been  absent  from  their  homes  at 
night.  They  could  not  believe  that  the  testimony  against  them 

the  first  being  about  eight  feet  by  ten,  and  the  second  seven  feet  by  ten,  and 
averaging  seven  feet  in  height.  The  bed-room  has  no  ventilation  except  what 
it  gets  by  the  door  opening  from  the  living-room ;  and  the  living-room,  when 
iu  the  centre  of  the  floor — that  is  to  say,  when  it  is  not  a  front  or  rear  room — 
has  no  ventilation  or  light  except  what  it  gets  through  the  door  and  a  win 
dow  opening  into  the  narrow  hall.  The  so-called  living-room  is  used  to  cook 
and  wash  in,  and  is  also  frequently  used  as  a  shoe-shop,  tailor's  shop,  or  for 
other  manufacturing  purposes. 

"Not  unfrequently  two  families — you,  four  families,  live  in  one  of  these 
small  sets  of  dens;  and  in  this  manner  as  many  as  126  families,  numbering 
over  800  souls,  have  been  packed  into  one  such  building,  and  some  of  the 
families  taking  boarders  and  lodgers  at  that.  And  worse  yet,  all  around  such 
tenements,  or  in  close  proximity  to  them,  stand  slaughter-house?,  stables, 
tanneries,  soap-factories,  and  bone-boiling  establishments,  emitting  life-de 
stroying  exhalations.  Nor  have  we  yet  reached  the  climax  of  these  horrors. 
One  such  nest  of  pest-pits  would  be  bad  enough,  even  if  planted  on  a  wide- 
spreading  prairie ;  but,  here  in  New  York,  we  have  scores  of  them,  towering 
in  such  close  proximity  as  to  shut  out  the  air  and  sunlight  from  their  in 
mates — with  noisome,  stench-reeking  alleys  leading  to  the  rear  houses,  with 
yawning  cesspools  and  privies  in  the  areas,  and  steaming  garbage-boxes  on 
the  sidewalks,  and  gutters  running  with  festering  filth,  altogether  forming  a 
conglomerate  mass  of  indescribable  nastiness,  from  which  ceaselessly  go  up 
such  rank-smelling  odors  as  might  well  cause  the  Man  in  the  Moon  to  hold 
his  nose  as  he  passes  over  them. 

"  Persons  who  have  never  applied  their  noses  to  this  matter  may  think 
that  these  expressions  are  rather  strong ;  but  they  do  not  begin  to  be  as 
strong  as  the  smells." 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  203 


Ladies'  Mission,  Five  Points. 


was  true  y  but  the  little  girls  confessed  to  their  personal  partici 
pation  in  the  frightful  vices  of  the  place  where  they  were  found. 
They  had  been  beguiled  into  it  during  their  intermissions  from 
school  or  work,  and  had  always  been  careful  to  reach  home  at 
the  proper  hour.  It  is  the  poison  of  the  streets  that  occasions 
the  constant  surprise  we  feel  in  learning  that  so  many  of  the 
children  of  our  reformatories  have  been  religiously  trained,  and 
enjoyed  the  affection  and  counsels  of  Christian  parents.  In 
leaving  so  many  neglected  children  in  the  streets  we  peril  the 
safety  of  all  the  others. 

Christian  women  in  our  city,  encouraged  by  these  successful 
experiments  in  Scotland,  impressed  with  the  truth  that  vice  and 
crime  could  only  be  cured  by  going  to  the  fountain-head,  and 
deeply  moved  by  the  appalling  moral  condition  of  certain  por 
tions  of  the  city,  were  the  first  to  determine  to  put  forth  prac 
tical  efforts  for  their  regeneration. 

As  early  as  1848,  the  ladies  of  the  Home  Missionary  Society 
connected  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  had  fixed  their 
eyes  upon  the  Five  Points,  which  was  then  the  most  abandoned 
and  frightful  portion  of  the  city,  as  a  sphere  for  their  operations. 
"  We  all  feel,"  they  say,  in  their  report  for  that  year,  "  that  this 
is  emphatically  mission  ground.  We  plead  for  the  children — 
the  children,  because  through  them  we  hope  to  reach  the 
parents — the  children,  because  ere  long  they  will  hold  the  des 
tiny  of  our  city  within  their  hands." 

There  were  some  features  that  rendered  this  field  more  diffi 
cult  of  cultivation  and  hopeless  than  West  Port,  in  Edinburgh. 
In  the  latter  the  great  body  of  the  miserable  population  was  of 
a  common  nationality,  and  the  question  of  a  religious  belief 
would  have  hardly  occasioned  a  serious  discussion.  In  the  Five 


204      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Five  Points  as  Charles  Dickens  saw  it. 

Points  almost  every  nationality  under  the  heavens  was  repre 
sented,  and  bitter  sectarian  prejudices  greatly  embarrassed  the 
progress  of  the  work.  But  to  faith  nothing  is  impossible  ! 

A  low  valley,  between  Broadway  and  the  Bowery,  once  the 
site  of  a  pond  of  w^ater,  with  a  depth  in  the  centre  of  fifty  feet, 
on  which  the  first  boat  sailed  ever  propelled  by  steam,*  gradually 
filled  up,  but  badly  drained,  the  angles  of  the  narrow,  dirty 
streets,  running  to  and  through  it,  forming  five  corners  around 
an  irregular  and  indefinitely  deep  mud-hole  in  the  centre — such 
was  the  physical  geography  of  the  place  in  1850.  Of  the  gen 
eral  aspect  of  its  tenements,  and  the  moral  character  of  its  popu 
lation,  that  wonderful  artist  in  descriptions  of  wretchedness  and 
crime,  Charles  Dickens,  has  given  us  the  picture  to  life,  as  it 
struck  his  eye  a  few  years  before  the  ladies  commenced  their 
work  of  redemption.  "Let  us  go  on  again,"  he  says,  in  his 
"  American  Notes,"  "  and  plunge  into  the  Five  Points.  But  it 
is  needful  first,  that  we  take  as  our  escort  these  two  heads  of 
the  police,  whom  you  would  know  for  sharp  and  well-trained 
officers,  if  you  met  them  in  the  great  desert.  .  .  .  This  is 
the  place ;  these  narrow  ways,  diverging  to  the  right  and  left, 
and  reeking  everywhere  with  dirt  and  filth.  Such  lives  as  are 
led  here  bear  the  same  fruit  here  as  elsewhere.  The  coarse 
and  bloated  faces  at  the  doors  have  counterparts  at  home  and 
all  the  wide  world  over.  Debauchery  has  made  the  very  houses 
prematurely  old.  See  how  the  rotten  beams  are  tumbling 
down,  and  how  the  patched  and  broken  windows  seem  to 
scowl  dimly,  like  eyes  that  have  been  hurt  in  drunken  frays. 
Many  of  these  pigs  live  here.  Do  they  ever  wonder  why  their 
masters  walk  upright  in  lieu  of  going  on  all  fours !  and  why 

*  Chart  of  John  Fitch,  1793. 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND. 


Five  Points  Tenement-house. 


they  talk,  instead  of  grunting.  ...  So  far,  nearly  every 
house  is  a  low  tavern,  and  on  the  bar-room  walls  are  colored 
prints  of  Washington  and  Queen  Victoria,  and  the  American 
eagle.  .  .  .  What  place  is  this,  to  which  the  squalid  square 
conducts  us  ?  A  kind  of  square  of  leprous  houses,  some  of 
which  are  attainable  only  by  crazy  wooden  stairs  without. 
What  lies  beyond  this  tottering  flight  of  steps  that  creak  be 
neath  our  tread  ?  A  miserable  room  lighted  by  one  dim  candle, 
and  destitute  of  all  comfort,  save  that  which  may  be  hidden  in  a 
wretched  bed.  Beside  it  sits  a  man ;  his  elbows  on  his  knees, 
his  forehead  hidden  in  his  hands.  '  What  ails  that  man  ? '  asks 
the  foremost  officer.  '  Fever,'  he  sullenly  replies,  without  look 
ing  up.  Conceive  the  fancies  of  a  fevered  brain  in  such  a  place 
as  this !  Ascend  these  pitch-dark  stairs,  heedful  of  a  false  foot 
ing  on  the  trembling  boards,  and  grope  your  way,  with  me,  into 
this  wolfish  den,  where  neither  ray  of  light  nor  breath  of  air 
appears  to  come.  A  negro  lad,  startled  from  his  sleep  by  the 
officer's  voice — he  knows  it  well — but  comforted  by  his  assur 
ance  that  he  has  not  come  on  business,  officiously  bestirs  himself 
to  light  a  candle.  The  match  nickers  for  a  moment,  and  shows 
great  mounds  of  dusky  rags  upon  the  ground,  then  dies  away, 
and  leaves  a  denser  darkness  than  before,  if  there  can  be  degrees 
in  such  extremes.  He  stumbles  down  the  stairs,  and  presently 
comes  back  shading  a  flaring  taper  with  his  hands.  Then  the 
mounds  of  rags  are  seen  to  be  astir,  and  rise  slowly  up,  and  the 
floor  is  covered  with  heaps  of  negro  women,  walking  from  their 
sleep,  their  white  teeth  chattering,  and  their  bright  eyes  glisten 
ing  and  winking  on  all  sides,  with  surprise  and  fear,  like  the 
countless  repetition  of  one  astonished  African  face  in  some 
strange  mirror.  Mount  up  these  other  stairs  with  no  less  caution 


206      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
A  God-forsaken  Place. 

(there  are  traps  and  pitfalls  here  for  those  who  are  not  so  well 
escorted  as  ourselves)  into  the  housetop,  where  the  bare  beams 
and  rafters  meet  over  head,  and  calm  night  looks  down  through 
the  crevices  in  the  roof.  Open  the  door  of  one  of  these  cramped 
hutches,  full  of  sleeping  negroes.  Bah  !  they  have  a  charcoal 
fire  within,  there  is  a  smell  of  singeing  clothes  or  flesh,  so  close 
they  gather  round  the  brazier,  and  vapors  issue  forth  that  blind 
and  suffocate. 

"  From  every  corner,  as  you  glance  about  you  in  these  dark 
streets,  some  figure  crawls,  half-awakened,  as  if  the  judgment- 
hour  were  near  -at  hand,  and  every  obscure  grave  were  giving 
up  its  dead.  Where  dogs  would  howl  to  lie,  women,  men,  and 
boys  slink  off  to  sleep,  forcing  the  dislodged  rats  to  move  away 
in  quest  of  better  lodgings.  Here,  too,  are  lanes  and  alleys 
paved  with  mud  knee-deep  ;  underground  chambers,  where  they 
dance  and  game,  the  walls  bedecked  with  rough  designs  of 
ships,  and  forts,  and  flags,  and  American  eagles,  out  of  number ; 
ruined  houses,  open  to  the  streets,  whence,  through  wide  gaps 
in  the  walls,  other  ruins  loom  upon  the  eye,  as  though  the 
world  of  vice  and  misery  had  nothing  else  to  show;  hideous 
tenements  which  take  their  name  from  robbery  and  murder  ;  all 
that  is  loathsome,  drooping,  and  decayed  is  here  !  " 

Thus  forbidding,  in  only  a  passing  visit,  did  this  locality  ap 
pear  to  Mr.  Dickens.  But  this  is  only  a  faint  picture  of  the 
reality.  "  It  was  a  God-forsaken  place,"  says  one  of  the  reports 
of  the  House  of  Industry,  "where  neither  education  nor  re 
ligion  was  permitted  to  enter,  and  the  respectable  inhabitants 
of  New  York,  though  then  living  not  far  from  the  scene,  were 
callous  of,  and  indifferent  to,  the  fearful  degradation  which  there 
existed.  Certainly  as  no  spot  of  ground  on  this  continent  had 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  207 


Rev.  L.  M.  Pease. — First  Sunday-school. 


the  reputation  of  having  been  the  witness  of  more  crime,  so  no 
spot  had  such  repulsive  features  or  exhibited  want  and  woe  in 
darker  colors.  Every  house  was  a  brothel,  the  resort  of  persons 
of  every  age,  sex,  and  color,  every  store  a  dram-shop,  where, 
from  morning  until  evening,  the  thieves  and  abandoned  charac 
ters  of  the  town  whetted  their  depraved  tastes,  and  concocted 
future  crimes  and  villanies." 

Into  this  waste  of  sin  and  wretchedness  went  these  heroic 
and  devoted  ladies,  accompanied  by  their  minister  appointed  by 
the  New- York  Methodist  Conference,  Rev.  L.  M.  Pease,  a  man 
of  remarkable  magnetic  power,  and  having  many  endowments 
peculiarly  fitting  him  for  this  work.  A  hall  was  hired  and 
it  was  filled  on  the  first  Sabbath,  and  seventy  scholars  were 
formed  into  a  Sunday-school.  The  obstacles  in  the  way  of  these 
pioneers  were  appalling,  but  they  were  successfully  overcome 
from  the  first.  An  advisory  committee  of  Christian  gentle 
men,  practical  business  men,  was  selected,  who  cordially  yielded 
their  advice  and  pecuniary  aid  in  carrying  forward  the  undertak 
ing.  In  1852,  having  long  felt  the  need  of  sufficient  room,  one 
of  the  ladies,  who  had  been  a  ward  visitor  of  the  New-York 
Clothing  Society,  proposed  the  purchase  of  the  Old  Brewery— 
a  name  which  it  bore  from  the  business  once  carried  on  in  it,  but 
at  this  time  inhabited  by  hundreds  of  the  most  depraved  char 
acters — as  offering  a  favorable  site  for  a  mission-house,  and 
abolishing  at  one  blow  one  of  the  most  terrible  resorts  of  crime 
and  vice,  embraced  in  the  field  of  their  labors.  A  daily  paper, 
describing  the  place  as  it  then  stood,  says :  *  "  An  alley  extends 
all  around  the  building;  on  the  north  side  it  is  of  irregular 
width,  wide  at  the  entrance,  and  gradually  tapering  to  a  point. 

*  As  quoted  in  the  "  Old  Brewery,"  p.  47. 


208      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Old  Brewery. 

On  the  opposite  side  the  passage-way  is  known  by  the  name  of 
4  Murderer's  Alley,'  a  filthy,  narrow  path,  scarcely  three  feet  in 
width.  (Another  portion  of  the  alley  was  called  the  Den  of 
Thieves.)  There  are  double  rows  of  rooms  throughout  the 
building,  entered  by  the  alley-ways  on  either  side.  .  .  The  dark 
and  winding  passage-ways,  which  extend  throughout  the  whole 


building,  must  have  afforded  a  convenient  means  of  escape  to 
thieves  anc\  criminals  of  all  kinds;  there  are  various  hiding 
places  recently  discovered,  which  have  also,  no  doubt,  afforded 
the  means  of  escape  to  offenders  against  the  laws.  In  the  floor 
in  one  of  the  upper  rooms,  a  place  was  found  where  the  boards 
had  been  sawed;  upon  tearing  them  up,  human  bones  were 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  209 


Interior  View  of  the  Builrliug. 


found,  the  remains,  no  doubt,  of  a  victim  of  some  diabolical  mur 
der.  Our  way  was  explored  by  the  aid  of  a  single  lamp,  in  com 
pany  with  two  gentlemen  and  a  guide ;  besides  these,  were  a 
number  of  rather  rough-looking  customers,  who  appeared  as 
much  interested  as  any  one  else.  But  it  was  not  until  one  of 
the  gentlemen  complained,  in  one  of  the  dark  passage-ways,  of 
a  strange  hand  in  his  pocket,  that  their  characters  were  sus 
pected.  Then  our  guide  informed  us,  in  an  undertone,  that  we 
were  surrounded  by  a  gang  of  the  most  notorious  pickpockets 
and  thieves  of  that  section,  and  that  we  must  take  good  care  of 
our  watches,  or  we  should  lose  them.  .  .  .  The  basement  of  the 
building  is  even  worse  than  the  upper  part.  In  a  lower  room 
not  more  than  fifteen  feet  square,  twenty-six  human  beings  re 
side.  A  man  could  scarcely  stand  erect  in  it.  Two  men  were 
sitting  by  the  blaze  of  a  few  sticks  when  our  company  entered ; 
women  lay  on  a  mass  of  filthy,  unsightly  rags  in  a  corner,  sick, 
feeble,  and  emaciated ;  six  or  seven  children  were  in  various  at 
titudes  about  the  corner,  and  the  smoke  and  stench  of  the  room 
were  so  suffocating  that  it  could  not  long  be  endured." 

The  announcement  of  sucli  a  site  for  a  mission  was  received 
with  surprise,  but  further  consideration  showed  the  wisdom  of  the 
proposer.  The  property  was  purchased ;  the  old  walls,  that  had 
long  resounded  with  curses,  were  demolished,  and  the  corner 
stone  of  the  new  edifice  was  laid  by  Rev.  Bishop  Janes,  with 
the  impressive  words :  "  For  the  promotion  of  education,  of  vir 
tue,  and  of  religion,  and  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  men, 
and  the  glory  of  God,  we  now  lay  the  corner-stone  of  this  edi 
fice,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  Where  was  once  the  foulest  haunt  in  the  city,  is  now 

to  be  seen  a  plain  and  substantial  structure,  containing  within 
14 


210      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
The  Present  Appearance  of  the  Old  Brewery. 

its   ample   walls   a   chapel,   parsonage,    school-rooms,    bathing- 
rooms,  and  tenements  for  twenty  families. 

During  the  eighteen  years  since  its  organization  the  Society, 
enjoying  the  aid  of  a  succession  of  excellent  ministers,  by  domi 
ciliary  visits,  by  sermons,  by  lectures,  by  temperance  associations, 


=:— 


by  day-schools,  and  Sunday-schools,  has  been  operating  upon 
the  individual  members  of  this  wretched  population.  The  result 
may  be  stated  in  figures,  and  may  be  seen  by  the  eye  in  the 
entire  physical  change  of  the  vicinity,  and  in  the  increased  value 
of  property,  but  the  chief  results  can  only  be  measured  by  the 


RANDALL'S   ISLAND.  211 


Rev.  J.  N.  Shaffer.— Views  of  Mr.  Pease. 


Divine  eye — the  hearts  that  have  been  redeemed  and  made 
happy,  the  thousands  of  young  lives  that  have  been  snatched 
from  courses  of  sin,  the  inspiration  that  has  been  given  to  hun 
dreds  of  others  in  different  parts  of  our  land  and  England  to 
"  go  and  do  likewise  " — the  full  measure  of  these  results  God 
only  knows.  Each  one  of  the  original  band  of  ladies  entering 
upon  the  work  still  survives,  to  enjoy  the  wonderful  success  that 
has  followed  their  humble  commencement.  Rev.  J.  N.  Shaffer 
has  been  for  a  number  of  years  their  missionary,  entering  heart 
ily,  and  with  great  prudence  and  devotion,  into  the  various  op 
portunities  afforded  him  for  the  execution  of  his  truly  evangel 
ical  mission. 

About  a  thousand  destitute  children  have  been  placed  in 
good  and  permanent  homes  in  the  country.  Although  origi 
nated  and  managed  by  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  it  has  been  generously  sustained  by  different  denomina 
tions,  and  has  been  conducted  in  the  most  catholic  and  unsec- 
tarian  manner. 

The  first  missionary,  Mr.  Pease,  conceived  from  the  beginning 
of  his  work  a  broader  scheme  than  the  constitution  of  the  Mis 
sion  or  the  funds  at  the  command  of  the  ladies  justified.  De 
siring  to  redeem  the  adults,  as  well  as  the  children,  if  possible, 
he  saw  that  nothing  could  be  done  without  providing  forms  of 
honest  remunerative  labor  for  them.  His  widely  different  views 
soon  separated  him  from  the  original  organization,  and  hiring 
several  houses  upon  his  own  responsibility,  he  and  his  wife  with 
extraordinary  self-denial  and  diligence  devoting  themselves  to 
the  work,  he  filled  his  rooms  with  the  former  occupants  of  the 
wretched  dens  around  him,  provided  them  with  work,  disposed 
of  their  manufactures,  opened  schools,  and  conducted  religious 


212      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE   DELINQUENTS. 


Five  Points  House  of  Industry. 


services,  until  his  strength  began  to  yield  under  the  burden. 
The  community  became  greatly  interested  in  his  movements, 
and  aid  in  the  form  of  money  and  personal  assistance  was  freely 
offered. 

In  1854  the  Mission  was  surrendered  into  the  hands  of  a 
body  of  trustees,  formed  under  an  act  of  incorporation  from  the 
Legislature,  Mr.  Pease  still  remaining  Superintendent.  Through 
munificent  bequests  and-  donations,  an  immense  edifice,  adapted 


to  all  the  purposes  of  such  a  mission,  and  known  far  and  wide  as 
the  Five  Points  House  of  Industry,  was  erected,  nearly  opposite 
the  Mission-house  of  the  ladies. 

In  the  thirteen  years  of  its  existence,  in  addition  to  its  char 
itable  work  in  the  House  and  out  of  doors,  and  to  the  opportu 
nities  for  labor  which  it  has  supplied,  the  House  of  Industry  has 


RANDALL'S   ISLAND.  213 


Successors  of  Mr.  Pease. — Working- Women's  Home. 


gathered  within  its  walls  18,087  children,  and  has,  as  is  also  the 
case  with  its  neighbor  at  the  present  time,  between  four  and  five., 
hundred  pupils  from  the  vagrant  class  in  its  schools. 

A  farm  was  purchased  in  Westchester,  for  the  employment 
of  the  boys,  to  which  Mr.  Pease  retired  upon  the  failure  of  his 
health  in  1857.  This  farm  eventually  came  into  the  hands  of  a 
Lutheran  association,  under  the  direction  of  Rev.  Mr.  Passevant, 
wTho  proposes  the  establishment  of  orphan-houses,  upon  the  plan 
of  Wichern  in  his  Rough  House  at  the  Horn,  in  Hamburg. 

Mr.  Pease  was  followed  by  able  successors  :  Mr.  Talcott,  now 
of  the  Providence  Reform  School ;  the  beloved,  devoted,  and  mar 
tyr  Barlow,  who  fell  a  victim  to  his  self-denying  zeal ;  and  the 
present  Superintendent,  S.  B.  Halliday,  than  whom,  perhaps,  no 
one  is  more  familiar  with  the  poverty,  misery,  and  crime  of  the 
city,  or  has  more  judicious  views  of  the  best  agents  and  agencies 
to  meet  the  existing  condition  of  things. 

The  trustees  of  the  House  of  Industry  have  of  late  taken 
another  advance  step  toward  the  abatement  of  social  crime,  on 
the  part  of  exposed  young  females  in  the  city,  by  opening  a 
large  and  well-arranged  boarding-house,  on  Elizabeth  Street, 
called  "  The  Working- Women's  Home,"  where  neat  accommo-  ^ 
dations  and  wholesome  food,  with  the  privileges  of  a  Christian 
family,  can  be  secured  at  a  very  low  price  per  week. 

In  1855,  Rev.  W.  C.  Van  Meter,  a  young  Baptist  clergy 
man,  having  just  graduated  from  a  seminary  at  Granville,  Ohio, 
on  his  way  to  visit  New  York,  fell  upon  Solon  Robinson's 
touching  story  of  "  Hot  Corn,"  founded  upon  incidents  gathered 
in  the  mission-work  at  Five  Points.  A  man  of  ardent  temper, 
of  the  tenderest  sensibilities,  with  a  peculiar  love  for  children, 
and  earnest  in  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  his  Master,  his  soul 


2U       A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Rev.  W.  C.  Van  Meter. 

was  set  on  fire  by  the  irresistible  pathos  of  the  story  of  the  little 
redeemed  outcast.  Among  the  first  places  he  visited  in  the  city 
was  the  Ladies'  Mission.  He  united  with  them  in  their  religious 
services.  His  heartiness,  his  tenderness,  his  simple  and  affecting 
eloquence,  drew  attention  to  him  at  once,  and  arrangements 
were  made  to  secure  his  services  to  present  the  claims  of  the 
work  to  the  community,  and  to  discharge  the  duties  of  a  mis 
sionary.  His  acquaintance  with  the  West,  its  wants,  and  its 
opportunities,  suggested  to  his  mind  the  expediency  of  removing 
the  poor  friendless  children  from  the  city,  and  placing  them  in 
families  that  would  eagerly  receive  them  and  bring  them  up  as 
their  own.  In  May,  1855,  he  took  the  first  delegation  of  the 
children  of  the  street,  and  transported  them  westward,  attracting 
much  attention  by  the  way. 

He  had  left  the  service  of  the  Mission,  for  a  Bible  agency,  in 
1861,  when,  being  struck  with  the  terrible  moral  condition  of 
the  Fourth  Ward  of  our  city,  with  a  tenant  population  packed 
in  at  the  rate  of  two  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  to  the  square 
mile,  almost  destitute  of  Protestant  instruction,  with  as  many 
rum-shops  as  tenements,  with  the  vilest  dance-houses  and  dens 
of  infamy  in  the  city,  and  swarming  with  neglected  children,  he 
said  to  himself,  "  This  is  my  field  of  labor ;  here  I  can  distribute 
personally  and  most  effectually  the  Word  of  God."  Starting 
out  like  Miiller,  of  Bristol,  in  simple  dependence  upon  a  Divine 
Providence,  he  hired  rooms,  resolved  not  to  go  in  debt,  and  not 
to  turn  a  destitute  child  from  his  door.  He  called  his  house 
"  The  Howard  Mission  and  Home  for  Little  Wanderers."  He 
sought  not  the  aid  of  the  Legislature  nor  of  the  city  authorities, 
but  threw  himself  upon  the  charity  of  the  religious  community, 
not  of  this  city  only,  but  of  the  land,  as  the  whole  country,  in  a 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  215 


The  Howard  Mission. 


degree,  is  affected  by  the  moral  condition  of  the  city.*  His  faith 
was  justified  by  the  results.  During  seven  years  he  has  been 
able  to  make  provision  for  seven  thousand  five  hundred  and 
eighty-one  children,  of  clothing,  food,  instruction,  and,  where  it 
has  been  required,  of  suitable  homes  in  the  country.  After 
working  alone  for  three  years,  he  surrendered  the  work  into  the 
hands  of  an  incorporated  Board  of  Trustees,  by  whom  he  is  em 
ployed  as  the  Superintendent  of  the  Mission. 

Upon  the  expiration  of  the  lease  of  the  buildings,  which  he 
had  hired,  last  year  (1867),  the  trustees,  sustained  by  a  generous 
community,  secured  lots  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  and 
are  erecting  a  suite  of  edifices  adapted  to  the  various  benevolent 

*  Mr.  Oliver  Dyer  thus  presents  the  claims  of  the  city  upon  the  country : 
"  Our  country  friends  must  help  us,  not  only  for  our  own  protection,  but  for 
theirs  also.  In  some  respects  the  evils  which  result  from  the  present  condition 
of  things  in  this  city  fall  more  heavily  on  them  than  on  us.  The  statistics  of 
vice  and  crime  show  that  their  ranks  are  more  largely  recruited  from  the 
families  of  the  State  at  large,  than  from  the  native  families  of  this  city. 
Young  men  and  young  women  are  constantly  coming  hither  from  oiher  parts 
of  the  State  to  seek  their  fortunes,  and  too  often  they  find  them  in  a  felon's 
cell,  or  a  castaway's  grave.  The  minions  of  vice  and  debauchery  go  forth  from 
this  city  to  the  utmost  bounds  of  the  State,  seeking  whom  they  may  lure  into 
the  ways  which  lead  to  death.  There  are  keepers  of  houses  of  ill-fame  in 
this  city  who  have  daughters  at  country  boarding-schools,  under  assumed 
names, — whether  sent  there  as  decoys,  or  to  escape  their  mothers'  shame, 
we  cannot  tell;  but,  in  any  event,  what  virtuous  mother  would  not  shudder 
at  the  thought  of  her  daughter's  sharing  the  room  and  bed  of  one  of  these 
children  of  sin  and  infamy ! 

"  A  faint  notion  of  the  result  of  all  these  things  may  be  conceived  by  con 
sidering  the  fact  that,  at  the  last  investigation  of  this  matter,  made  a  few 
months  ago,  there  were  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  families  living  in  the 
State  at  large,  represented  among  the  abandoned  women  of  this  city.  That 
is  an  average  of  over  three  families  to  a  county,  and  more  are  coming  all  the 
time.  Not  a  week  passes  that  the  railroad  trains  do  not  bear  hither,  from 
other  parts  of  the  State,  fugitive  daughters  fleeing  from  homes  which  shall 
know  them  no  more  forever." 


216      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

St.  James's  School  of  the  Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul. 

operations  of  the  Society.  The  effect  of  this  mission  upon  this 
dark  quarter  of  the  city,  especially  upon  its  exposed  childhood, 
is  manifest. 

The  site  which  Mr.  Van  Meter  had  previously  used  has  been 
bought  by  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  a  very  handsome  edifice, 
under -the  care  of  the  Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  has  been 
erected,  called  the  St.  James's  School.  It  is  intended  to  offer  the 
same  opportunities  to  neglected  Catholic  children  that  the  Home 
for  Little  Wanderers  has  offered  to  all  indiscriminately.  It  also 
serves  as  a  house  of  detention  for  the  Catholic  protectorate  at 
West  Farms,  and,  in  this  capacity,  receives  an  annual  appropria 
tion  from  the  city. 

These  positive  preventive  movements,  instituted  within  those 
precincts  of  the  city  where  heretofore  juvenile  crime  has  been 
nurtured,  have  been  eminently  useful  in  decreasing  the  vicious 
and  perishing  classes,  and  have  excited  much  attention  and  in 
terest  throughout  our  country  and  Europe.  In  Boston,  Phila 
delphia,'  Chicago,  Cleveland,  and  other  cities,  similar  missions 
have  been  instituted,  and  in  our  city,  among  both  Protestants 
and  Catholics,  other  enterprises  somewhat  similar  have  been 
undertaken. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  these  is  the  St.  Barnabas 
House  and  Chapel,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Protestant  Episco 
pal  Church,  and  intimately  associated  in  its  mission  work  with 
the  House  of  Mercy  and  the  Sheltering  Arms.  These  several 
institutions,  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  receive  and  administer 
to  all  forms  of  want,  weakness,  and  exposure,  of  both  sexes  and 
all  ages.  The  chief  duties  in  the  truly  benevolent  work  of  these 
institutions,  under  the  direction  of  clergymen,  are  performed  by 
a  body  of  intelligent  Christian  women,  voluntarily  associating 


EANDALL'S  ISLAND.  217 


St.  Barnabas  House.— Multiplication  of  Charities. 


themselves  under  the  title  of  the  Protestant  Sisterhood  of  St. 
Mary.  Since  1866  the  officers  of  the  St.  Barnabas  House  have 
instituted  a  "Midnight  Mission"  among  the  abandoned  girls 
of  the  city,  which  has  been  attended  with  quite  encouraging 
success. 

In  the  commencement  of  the  half  century  which  we  have 
been  considering,  the  minds  of  thoughtful  men  were  drawn  to 
the  injudicious  multiplication  of  eleemosynary  institutions,  and 
to  the  evil  effect  of  an  unwise  administration  of  charity  in  the 
encouragement  and  nurture  of  pauperism.  In  1842-'43,  this 
same  condition  of  things  again  attracted  the  attention  of  thought 
ful  men.  It  was  found  that  there  were  in  the  city  "  between 
thirty  and  forty  benevolent  societies  in  operation  for  the  relief 
of  particular  classes  of  the  indigent,  and  which  united  moral  ob 
jects  with  the  relief  of  physical  want.  It  had  become  evident, 
however,  from  the  results,  that  their  modes  of  relief  \were  defect 
ive.  For,  even  with  this  enlarged  provision,  in  addition  to  the 
supplies  of  legal  charity,  while  every  class  of  the  indigent  ap 
peared  to  be  provided  for,  the  streets  were  still  filled  with  men 
dicants,  the  benevolent  harassed  with  applications,  and  impor 
tunate  impostors  constantly  obtaining  the  aid  which  was  de 
signed  only  for  the  needy  and  deserving."  * 

A  consideration  of  these  facts  resulted  in  the  formation  of 
the  "  New- York  Association  for  the  Improvement  of  the  Condi 
tion  of  the  Poor."  Under  the  judicious  administration  of  the 
Corresponding  Secretary  and  General  Agent  of  this  Society, 
Robert  M.  Hartley,  Esq.,  the  whole  system  of  public  and  volun 
tary  charity  in  the  city  has  been  greatly  simplified,  directed  to 
legitimate  objects,  a  harmony  of  action  between  different  asso- 

*  Eighth  Annual  Report  of  the  New- York  Juvenile  Asylum. 


218      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Association  for  the  Improvement  of  the  Condition  of  the  Poor. 

ciations  secured,  and  a  residence  in  the  work-house  made  the 
involuntary  condition  of  the  sturdy  beggars  that  heretofore  in 
fested  the  streets. 

No  association  for  the  improvement  of  the  poor  can  proceed 
far  in  the  inquiry  as  to  the  cause  of  pauperism  without  being 
confronted  with  the  fact  that  juvenile  vagrancy  and  truancy  form 
the  great  fountain  of  supply  for  mendicancy,  intemperance,  and 
criminality.  This  association  found  itself  forced  to  consider  the 
fact  that  many  thousand  children,  without  proper  guardians, 
were  wandering  in  the  streets  and  prowling  around  the  markets, 
docks,  and  public  resorts,  constantly  tempted,  and  falling  into  a 
criminal  life.  They  found  their  number  was  so  large  that  the 
Refuge  could  not  accommodate  them  if  any  serious  effort  were 
made  to  relieve  the  streets  of  their  presence ;  and  they  consid 
ered  their  characters  to  be  still  so  unhardened  and  hopeful,  that, 
after  a  short  training  of  perhaps  three  or  four  months,  they 
might  be  safely  removed  into  the  country.  Thus,  with  the  same 
accommodations,  a  very  much  larger  number  of  youth  might  be 
instructed  for  a  season,  and  then  be  placed  away  from  the  temp 
tations  of  the  city. 

.f-  Public  attention  was  drawn  to  the  matter  by  able  articles  in 
the  daily  and  religious  prints,  and  very  general  interest  among 
benevolent  men  was  excited.  In  October  of  1849,  a  committee 
of  the  Association,  consisting  of  Joseph  B.  Collins,  Thomas 
Denny,  Frederick  S.  Winston,  Apollos  R.  Wetmore,  and  Rob 
ert  M.  Hartley,  was  appointed,  to  consider,  among  other  things, 
the  subject  of  making  some  effectual  provision  for  the  benefit  of 
the  depraved  children  of  the  city.  To  this  committee  were  af 
terward  added  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  Luther  Bradish,  and  Hora 
tio  Allen.  After  entering  upon  their  work,  the  committee 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  219 


New  York  Juvenile  Asylum. 


learned,  through  the  mayor  of  the  city,  Hon.  Caleb  S.  Wood- 
hull,  that  another  company  of  gentlemen  were  engaged  in  the 
consideration  of  the  same  question.  These  persons — Dr.  John 
D.  Ross,  who  became  the  first  superintendent  of  the  institution 
which  grew  out  of  this  movement,  Solomon  Jenner,  James  H. 
Titus,  and  Isaac  Hopper — were  invited  to  a  common  meeting  at 
the  mayor's  office,  and,  after  the  discussion  of  various  proposi 
tions,  a  sub-committee  was  appointed  to  present  the  subject  to 
the  State  Legislature,  and  to  secure  an  act  of  incorporation. 
The  result  of  their  efforts  was,  that  the  State  Legislature,  for 
1851,  constituted  twenty-four  well-known  and  benevolent  mer 
chants  of  the  city  as  a  body  corporate  under  the  title  of  the 
"New  York  Juvenile  Asylum,"  for  the  purpose  of  receiving 
such  children,  between  the  ages  of  seven  and  fourteen,  as 
might  be  voluntarily  intrusted  to  their  care  by  parents,  or  be 
committed  to  them  by  competent  legal  authority.  By  an  equal 
voluntary  subscription  and  appropriation  from  the  city  Super 
visors,  the  ample  and  handsome  structures  for  the  House  of  Re 
ception,  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  and  the  Asylum,  near  High 
Bridge,  were  constructed. 

The  annual  expenses  of  the  institution  are  borne  by  the  sub 
scriptions  of  individuals  and  the  city  government ;  its  Execu 
tive  and  the  president  of  the  Council  are  ex-officio  members 
of  its  Board.  Two  hundred  thousand  dollars  have  been  con 
tributed  by  private  benevolence  for  the  purposes  of  the  institu 
tion  since  its  establishment. 

In  its  House  of  Reception  all  vagrant  children  of  the  street 
can  be  placed,  and,  if  proper  guardians  do  not  appear  within 
ten  days  (notice  being  given,  if  they  can  be  found),  the  child 
becomes  the  ward  of  the  Asylum,  to  be  trained,  discharged, 


220      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Nature  of  its  Reformatory  Agencies. 

or  indentured  through   its   minority,  at  the   discretion  of  its 
managers. 

The  institution  has  been  admirably  conducted,  and  has  been 
an  object  of  deserved  pride  to  its  managers  and  to  the  city.  Its 
schools  have  been  efficiently  sustained,  and  the  moral  influence 
of  the  Asylum  has  been  excellent  over  the  characters  of  its 
young  proteges. 

Its  Board  has  very  thoroughly  organized  the  work  of  send 
ing  children  to  the  West,  employing  a  permanent  and  intelli 
gent  agent,  who  makes  his  residence  in  Chicago,  and  becomes, 
by  personal  examination,  familiar  with  the  most  favorable  por 
tions  of  the  country  for  the  distribution  of  the  children  sent 
from  the  institution.  Within  a  short  period  arrangements  have 
been  made  to  open  a  House  of  Reception  in  Chicago,  to  receive 
any  child  that  may  be  returned  by  the  party  taking  him,  as  un 
suitable  or  incorrigible.  A  very  important  addition  this  is  to 
their  other  facilities  for  placing  these -children  in  Western  homes. 
Their  agent  is  expected,  also,  to  make  periodical  visits  to  the 
children,  and  keep  up  a  correspondence  with  the  families  where 
they  are  placed.  More  than  two  thousand  eight  hundred  chil 
dren  have  already  been  sent  to  Western  homes. 

The  managers  have  the  power,  of  which  they  avail  them 
selves,  of  committing  incorrigible  subjects  to  the  House  of 
Refuge.  In  the  period  of  sixteen  years  its  Board  has  had,  for  a 
longer  or  shorter  period,  under  its  control,  nearly  thirteen  thou 
sand  children  (12,942). 

Their  two  Houses  are  now  in  an  admirable  condition  of  neat 
ness  and  efficiency,  and  are  filled  almost  to  their  utmost  com 
fortable  limit.  The  Superintendent,  Dr.  Brooks,  is  an  intelligent 
and  skilful  physician,  and  a  gentleman  of  large  experience  in  the 


' 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  221 


Dr.  Brooks.— Ragged  Schools. 


government  and  training  of  neglected  children,  having  been 
Superintendent  for  a  number  of  years  of  the  Farm  School  con 
nected  with  the  State  Almshouse  Department,  in  Massachu 
setts.  The  Asylum  near  High  Bridge,  with  its  five  or  six 
hundred  boys  and  girls,  is  an  honor  to  the  city,  and  is  making  a 
manifest  impression  upon  the  vagrant  children  of  New  York. 

Ragged  Schools,  as  they  were  called,  some  years  before 
these  American  missions  among  the  perishing  classes  of  the  com 
munity,  had  been  organized  and  prosecuted  with  encouraging 
success  in  England. 

These  collections  of  the  lowest  and  most  vicious  of  the  street 
children  in  various  cities  of  Great  Britain  originated  in  the 
interesting  experiment  of  a  poor  shoemaker,  in  the  town  of 
Portsmouth.  Through  an  accident  which  happened  to  him  in 
the  dock-yard,  where  his  father  was  a  sawyer,  when  he  was 
fifteen  years  of  age,  John  Pounds  was  crippled  for  life.  The 
sad  condition  of  a  little  nephew,  who  was  a  cripple,  like  himself, 
awakened  his  sympathies.  He  adopted  the  lad,  and,  as  he  was 
not  in  a  condition  to  pay  for  his  education,  he  undertook  it  him 
self.  To  make  study  more  agreeable  to  the  boy,  he  sought  in 
the  streets,  among  the  outcast  and  poorest  of  the  children,  com 
panions  for  him.  Becoming  greatly  interested  in  the  work,  he 
continued  and  enlarged  it,  when  the  boy  for  whose  sake  it  was 
first  established  no  longer  needed  his  instructions.  Finally,  the 
school  gathered  within  his  humble  shop  consisted  of  forty 
scholars,  including  twelve  girls. 

These  children  were  the  most  destitute  and  degraded  in  the 
town.  He  called  them  his  "little  blackguards."  "Many  a 
time  he  has  been  known  to  go  out  upon  the  public  quay  and 
tempt  such  as  these,  by  the  offer  of  a  roasted  potato,  or  some 


222      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
John  Pounds.— Experiment  in  Aberdeen. 

such  simple  thing,  to  enter  his  school.  There  is  something  in 
the  voice  and  manner  of  an  earnest,  truthful  man,  which  is 
irresistible ;  it  is  an  appeal  made  to  that  divine  image  of  which 
there  is  some  trace  still  left  in  the  most  corrupted  heart ;  and  it 
was  seldom,  therefore,  that  the  summons  of  John  Pounds  passed 
unheeded ;  and  when  once  at  the  school,  his  scholars  seldom 
needed  urging  to  come  a  second  time,  for  their  master  taught 
them  not  only  '  book-learning,'  as  he  called  it,  but  his  trade ;  if 
they  were  hungry,  he  gave  them  food ;  if  ragged,  he  clothed 
them  as  best  he  could ;  and,  added  to  all  this,  he  joined  in  their 
sports."  *  It  is  certainly  no  matter  of  wonder,  that  when  he 
died,  suddenly,  in  1839,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two,  "the  poor 
children  who  then  formed  his  class  wept,  and  some  of  them 
fainted  on  hearing  the  news." 

The  success  of  this  individual  experiment  in  Portsmouth 
attracted  many  eyes  in  Great  Britain  and  in  this  country.  A 
society  was  formed  soon  after  the  death  of  John  Pounds,  in  the 
Scotch  city  of  Aberdeen,  under  the  leadership  of  Sheriff  Watson, 
for  the  purpose  of  supplying  instruction  to  all  the  vagrant  chil 
dren  of  the  city,  in  connection  with  wholesome  meals  and 
industrial  occupation. 

"The  police  were  instructed  by  the  magistrates  to  convey 
every  child,  found  begging  in  the  streets,  to  a  large  room,  which 
also  served  as  a  soup-kitchen;  and  thither,  on  the  19th  of  May, 
1845,  seventy-five  children,  boys  and  girls,  were  taken.  The 
scene  which  ensued  was  almost  indescribable :  confusion,  uproar, 
quarrelling,  fighting,  and  language  of  the  most  horrible  kind, 
were  to  be  encountered  and  vanquished.  The  task  was  a  hard 
one,  but  the  committee,  before  the  evening,  succeeded  in  estab- 

*  Philosophy  of  Eagged  Schools,  p.  43. 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  223 


Effect  of  these  Ragged  Schools. 


lishing  something  like  order.  The  children  were  then  told  that 
this  place  was  open  for  them  to  return  to  daily,  and  they  were 
invited  for  the  morrow,  but  were,  at  the  same  time,  told  that, 
whether  they  came  or  not,  they  would  not  longer  be  allowed  to 
beg,  since  food,  no  less  than  instruction,  was  offered  to  them 
there.  The  next  day  the  greater  portion  returned,  and  the 
committee  of  managers  were  able  soon  to  report  the  most  grati 
fying  results.  '  Whereas  a  few  years  since,'  they  say,  '  there 
were  three  hundred  and  twenty  children  in  the  town,  and  three 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  in  the  county  of  Aberdeen,  who, 
impelled,  by  their  own  or  their  parents'  necessities,  to  cater  for 
their  immediate  wants,  prowled  about  the  streets,  and  roved  over 
the  country — cheating  and  stealing  their  daily  avocation — now  a 
begging  child  is  rarely  to  be  seen,  and  juvenile  crime  is  com 
paratively  unknown.' "  * 

This  example  was  soon  followed  with  very  encouraging,  if 
not  equally  successful,  results,  in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom. 
The  effect  upon  juvenile  and  adult  crime  was  noticeable,  and  the 
Christian  spirit  and  effort  called  forth  by  the  missions  among  the 
abandoned  classes  powerfully  impressed  even  those  who  had 
been  trained  in  vice.  A  notorious  thief  said  to  one  of  the  mis 
sionary  teachers  in  London,  who  visited  him  in  prison:  "I 
always  considered  religion  all  humbug,  and  the  persons  hum 
bugs  who  were  paid  for  praying  and  preaching,  but,  when  I  see 
people  taking  young  thieves,  who  are  following  in  my  steps,  out 
of  the  streets  to  save  them  from  ruin,  this  is  something  like 
Christianity." 

Just  about  the  period  of  the  establishment  of  the  Juvenile 
Asylum,  a  young  man  from  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  was  pur- 

*  Philosophy  of  Ragged  Schools. 


224      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Charles  Loring  Brace. 

suing  his  theological  studies  in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary, 
in  this  city.  Seeking  opportunities  for  usefulness  on  the  Sab 
bath,  he  offered  his  services  in  aid  of  Mr.  Pease,  in  his  mission 
among  the  wretched  children  of  the  Five  Points,  to  the  public 
penal  and  charitable  institutions,  and  to  the  singular  meetings 
which  were  instituted  a  little  before  this  time  among  the  Arab 
boys  of  the  streets  and  docks  by  Mr.  A.  D.  F.  Randolph,  then 
connected  with  the  American  S.  S.  Union,  and  others,  called 
"  Boys'  Meetings,"  the  first  and  most  remarkable  one  being  held 
on  the  corner  of  Hudson  and  Christopher  Streets.  Upon  finish 
ing  his  course  at  the  seminary,  Mr.  Charles  Loring  Brace  (for 
this  was  the  young  theologian's  name)  in  company  with  his  friend 
Olmsted,  author  of  "  Walks  and  Talks  of  an  American  Farmer," 
travelled,  on  foot,  over  Great  Britain,  and  a  considerable  portion 
of  Europe.  He  gave  his  attention  especially  to  the  considera 
tion  of  the  condition  of  the  lowest,  the  vagrant,  and  criminal 
classes,  and  the  measures  taken  for  their  elevation  and  reforma 
tion,  in  the  countries  he  visited. 

Upon  his  return,  while  engaged  in  the  preparation  of  the 
various  volumes  in  which  he  has  embodied  the  results  of  his  ob 
servations  and  studies,  he  devoted  himself  to  a  more  thorough 
personal  investigation  of  the  most  wretched  portions  of  the  city. 
He  was  appalled  by  the  multitudes  of  neglected  children,  grow 
ing  up  amid  the  powerful  and  constant  temptations  of  the 
streets,  which  he  met  in  his  inspection  of  the  lower,  portions  of 
the  city.  He  immediately  commenced  a  series  of  very  vigorous 
and  stirring  articles  in  the  religious  and  secular  prints,  calling 
the  attention  of  the  community  to  facts  that  came  under  his 
personal  observation.  He  felt  much  as  did  Wichern,  that,  if 
New  York  were  ever  redeemed,  some  positive  and  wide-spread 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  225 


The  Children's  Aid  Society. 


measures  must  be  instituted  for  the  rescue  of  the  thousands  of 
exposed  children  filling  the  city  streets. 

After  more  than  a  year's  trial  of  voluntary  labors  on  the 
islands  among  prisoners,  and  at  the  Five  Points,  he  says,  in  his 
interesting  introduction  to  his  "  Sermons  to  the  Newsboys :  "  "  I 
became  convinced  that  no  far-reaching  and  permanent  work  of 
reform  could  succeed  among  these  classes.  It  was  right  that 
those  who  loved  humanity  in  its  lowest  forms  should  labor  for 
the  forlorn  prostitute  and  the  mature  criminal.  But,  on  a  broad 
scale,  no  lasting  effects  could  be  produced  to  society  from  such 
efforts.  The  hopeful  field  was  evidently  among  the  young. 
There  crime  might  possibly  be  checked  in  its  very  beginnings, 
and  the  seeds  of  future  good  character,  and  order,  and  virtue,  be 
widely  sown." 

He  drew  into  conference  with  each  other  a  number  of  benev 
olent  and  intelligent  men,  who  had  been  interested  in  the  boys' 
meetings,  such  as  Judge  Mason,  B.  J.  Howland,  W.  L.  King, 
W.  C.  Russell,  and  J.  E.  Williams,  and  finally  a  Society  was 
formed  in  February,  1853,  called  the  "  Children's  Aid  Society," 
of  which  he  has  been,  from  the  first  to  the  present  time,  the  in 
spiring  agent  in  its  multifarious  measures,  and  its  able  secretary. 
Calling  out  the  best  talents  of  the  leading  Christian  gentlemen 
and  ladies  of  the  city,  the  Society  has  established  industrial  day- 
schools,  sixteen  of  which  are  now  in  operation,  providing  cloth 
ing  and  food,  as  well  as  industrial  and  intellectual  instruction, 
for  the  children,  and  Sabbath-schools,  in  various  portions  of  the 
city,  where  the  moral  degradation  of  the  children  rendered  the 
work  the  more  urgent. 

The  most  interesting  field  of  the  Society's  operations  has 

been  among  the  little  street  merchants,  bootblacks,  and  news- 
15 


223      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Newsboys1  Lodgings. — Western  Homes. 

boys,  and  the  homeless  girls  of  the  city.  In  1854,  over  the  Sun 
office,  on  Fulton  Street,  Mr.  Brace  inaugurated  the  first  "  News 
boys'  Lodgings,"  where,  for  a  few  cents,  a  clean  berth,  a  good 
bath,  and  a  meal  could  be  obtained  by  the  homeless  boys  of  the 
streets.  A  house  was  afterward  opened  for  the  girls,  and  other 
similar  lodgings  have  been  constituted.  By  moral  instructions, 
the  economy  of  a  Savings  Bank,  and  Sabbath  services,  these 
very  popular  institutions  have  been  rendered  of  incalculable  ben 
efit  to  the  wandering  youth  of  the  metropolis. 

The  great  work  of  the  Society,  however,  is,  by  monthly  com 
panies,  to  gather  from  all  these  depositories — lodgings  and  in 
dustrial  schools,  from  almshouses  and  the  streets — neglected 
children,  and  to  transport  them  to  the  far  Western  States,  to  be 
distributed  in  the  families  of  farmers  and  mechanics.  In  fifteen 
years  the  Society  has  sent  out  fourteen  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  seventy-nine  persons — a  large  proportion  of  them  boys  and 
girls. 

All  these  important  and  interesting  movements  for  the  pre 
vention  of  juvenile  crime  were  going  on  while  the  stately  pro 
portions  of  the  House  of  Refuge  were  rising  upon  their  founda 
tions.  The  Divine  Spirit  inspired  the  movers  in  these  benevo 
lent  schemes,  and  a  Divine  Providence  brought  them  to  an 
efficient  condition.  With  all  their  combined  efforts  we  have 
hardly  kept  pace  with  juvenile  crime,  and  the  immense  capacity 
of  the  Refuge  has  already  been  fully  tested.  The  good  work  of 
training  its  unfortunate  children  went  quietly  on  in  its  crowded 
halls  at  Bellevue  during  the  years  the  new  edifice  was  in  con 
struction. 

On  the  first  of  December,  1853,  the  Chaplain  for  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  Rev  Thomas  S.  Barrett,  M.  D.,  a  lay  min- 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  227 


Death  of  Kev.  Mr.  Barrett.— Mahlon  and  Mary  Day. 


ister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  died  in  great  peace. 
Of  him  the  managers  bear  the  kind  testimony  that,  "  without 
any  brilliant  qualities,  or  any  pretensions  to  extensive  learning, 
he  had  much  that  was  of  more  importance  in  his  sphere.  He 
had  a  heart  warmly  interested  in  his  work,  a  manner  that  caused 
his  hearers  to  be  interested  in  him  and  his  teachings,  and  a  way 
of  making  great  doctrines  level  to  the  comprehension  of  the 
anomalous  audience  to  which  it  was  his  duty  to  minister." 

Forty  years  ago  there  was  no  name  more  familiar  to  the  child 
hood  of  the  land  than  that  of  Mahlon  Day.  As  the  printer  and 
publisher  of  the  juvenile  literature  of  the  times,  his  name  became 
a  household  word.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  presence,  with  a  most 
benignant  countenance,  becoming  in  his  manner  the  plain  dress 
of  the  Friends,  of  whose  Society  he  was  a  member,  and  rendered 
the  more  impressive  himself  by  it.  Very  fond  of  children,  his 
presence  was  welcomed  with  delight,  especially  by  the  younger 
members'  of  the  institution,  when  his  radiant  face  appeared  in 
the  yard.  His  wife,  Mary  Day,  was  one  of  the  lady  visitors. 
Like  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth,  "  they  were  both  righteous  before 
God,  walking  in  all  the  commandments  and  ordinances  of  the 
Lord  blameless."  In  the  calamitous  loss  of  the  steamer  Arctic, 
by  a  collision  with  another  vessel  while  crossing  the  Atlantic, 
they  met  a  common  and  solemn  death  (but  one  for  which  they 
were  undoubtedly  w^ell  prepared),  with  nearly  three  hundred 
other  passengers.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Day  was  near  one  of  the 
boats  crowded  with  rescued  passengers.  They  proposed  to  take 
him  in,  and  even  urged  him  to  permit  them  to  lift  him  into  the 
boat.  He  saw  it  was  full;  he  feared  his  additional  weight 
would  peril  other  lives.  He  declined  to  avail  himself  of  possi 
ble  salvation  at  another's  risk.  Calmly  bidding  them  all  fare- 


228      A  HALF  CENTUKY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Sale  of  the  House  at  Belle vue. 

well,  he  unclasped  his  hands  from  the  boat  and  sunk  out  of 
sight.  "  The  care  of  the  youthful  outcasts,  gathered  within  the 
House  of  Refuge,"  say  the  managers,  of  Mahlon  and  Mary  Day, 
"  enlisted  their  sympathies  and  united  their  labors  in  the  same 
work.  Their  friendly  counsels  to  the  children,  imparted  with 
almost  parental  kindness,  exerted  the  happiest  influence  upon 
their  susceptible  minds,  and  have  left,  without  doubt,  wholesome 
impressions  on  many  a  heart.  Mr  Day  had  been  a  manager  for 
about  ten  years,  during  several  of  which  he  had  discharged  faith 
fully  the  arduous  duties  of  a  member  of  the  Indenturing  Com 
mittee.  The  companion  of  his  life  was  a  member  of  the  Ladies' 
Committee.  Death  summoned  them  together  from  a  career  of 
active  usefulness." 

While  earnestly  contemplating  the  hour  when  the  new 
buildings  would  obviate  the  present  crowded  condition  of  their 
halls,  the  managers  speak  with  great  confidence  of  the  character 
and  permanence  of  the  work  they  were  effecting.  "  Of  the  six 
thousand  children  and  youth,"  they  say,  "  who  have  been  in 
mates  of  the  House,  it  is  but  fair  to  presume  that  the  greater 
portion  would,  but  for  the  intervention  of  the  Refuge,  have  been 
inmates  of  our  prisons,  and  that  but  a  comparatively  small  por 
tion  of  them  have  become  such,  gives  an  incalculable  value  to 
this  establishment." 

The  sale  of  the  property  on  Twenty-third  Street  secured  for 
the  managers  the  sum  of  $172,625.  The  remainder  of  the 
amount  necessary  to  complete  the  two  large  edifices  for  boys  and 
girls,  with  their  appropriate  out-buildings,  schools,  kitchens,  and 
shops,  was  supplied  by  successive  annual  appropriations  from 
the  State.  The  ultimate  cost  of  the  completed  establishment 
was  $470,000.  Of  this  amount  the  building  committee  remark : 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  229 


Generous  Appropriations  of  the  Legislature. 


"  We  can  say  with  entire  confidence  that  no  part  of  this  large 
sum  has  been  misapplied  or  expended  in  useless  experiment,  or 
inappropriate  ornament.  The  House  of  Refuge,  as  it  now  stands 
on  Randall's  Island,  complete  in  all  its  various  departments, 
while  presenting  a  fine  and  imposing  appearance  in  its  structure 
and  architectural  arrangement,  at  the  same  time  gives  no  evi 
dence  of  extravagant  and  needless  expenditure." 

The  several  committees  of  the  Legislature  before  whom 
members  of  the  Board  annually  appeared  to  present  the  es 
timates  for  building  for  the  ensuing  year,  in  addition  to  the 
current  expenses,  always  received  them  with  the  utmost  courtesy ; 
and  the  long  history  of  faithful  management  had  so  effectually 
won  the  confidence  of  the  community,  that  these  vast  sums  of 
money  were  unhesitatingly  committed  to  their  discretion,  sub 
ject  to  the  review  of  the  Executive  and  the  Comptroller  of  the 
State. 

It  was  a  work  of  ten  years  before  the  whole  plan  was  brought 
to  a  successful  conclusion ;  entered  upon  in  1851  by  the  Board, 
it  was  near  the  end  of  1861  before  the  Building  Committee  closed 
up  its  accounts. 

As  the  main  building,  which  for  some  time  was  occupied  by 
both  sexes,  approached  its  completion,  arrangements  were  made 
to  remove  from  the  old  site.  It  was  an  important  era  again  in 
the  history  of  the  institution,  and  was  fully  appreciated  by  the 
managers.  "  Its  removal,"  they  remark,  in  the  thirtieth  annual 
report,  rendered  January,  1855,  "to  a  site  distant  from  the  resi 
dences  of  the  managers,  has  rendered  it  necessary  to  review  the 
whole  plan  of  conducting  the  business,  the  chief  part  of  which 
has  been  transacted  hitherto  through  the  Acting  Committee. 
This  committee  has  met  once  a  week  regularly,  since  the  estab- 


230      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Change  in  Management  of  Eefuge. 

lisliment  of  the  New- York  House  of  Refuge,  and  every  item  of 
business,  whether  relating  to  contracts,  to  ordering  supplies,  to 
the  payment  of  bills,  or  any  matter  connected  with  the  internal 
f  management,  has  been  considered  and  acted  upon  with  scru 
pulous  care  and  diligence.  Precise  punctuality  has  been  their 
rule,  and  it  has  been  a  rare  event  for  a  single  failure  to  occur  in 
the  meetings  of  the  committee  in  the  course  of  the  entire  year. 
A  visiting  committee,  appointed  by  them,  has  been  charged  with 
the  duty  of  examining  the  institution  once  a  week.  A  sub-com 
mittee  from  the  Ladies'  Committee  has  performed  the  same  duty 
for  the  female  department.  This  service  has  been  in  addition  to 
the  visits  of  the  Indenturing  and  School  Committees,  in  the  dis 
charge  of  their  functions.  The  whole  financial  business  of  the 
Acting  Committee  will  now  be  transferred  to  the  whole  Board 
of  Managers,  who  will  alone  authorize  the  payment  of  bills.  An 
Executive  Committee  of  three  will  meet  at  the  House  once  in 
each  week,  to  transact  such  business  relating  to  the  management 
of  the  institution  as  may  come  before  them.  They  will  perform 
the  duties  of  the  Visiting  Committee,  and  in  part  those  of  the 
former  Acting  Committee.  The  Ladies'  Committee  will  provide 
for  a  visitation  of  the  female  department  once  in  two  weeks. 
The  Indenturing  Committee  will  hold  stated  meetings  at  the 
same  interval,  in  lieu  of  their  weekly  sessions.  The  School  Com 
mittee  will  perform  their  service  as  heretofore.  It  is  believed 
that  the  scheme,  in  its  various  details,  will  be  found  manageable 
and  efficient.  [All  this  it  has  fully  proved  itself  to  be.]  The 
Board  of  Managers  have  also  revised  the  entire  organization  of 
the  establishment,  and  adopted  a  new  set  of  rules  and  regula 
tions  for  its  government  and  management.  The  enlargement 
of  the*  institution,  the  character  of  the  location,  the  extent  of  the 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  231 


Removal  to  Randall's  Island. 


premises,  and  the  arrangements  rendered  practicable  by  the  im 
proved  plan  of  the  buildings,  demanded  many  changes.  The 
principal  of  these  refer  to  the  classification  of  the  inmates.  The 
boys  and  girls  are  to  be  divided  respectively  into  two  distinct 
grades.  The  boys  assigned  to  the  higher  moral  grade  will  be 
subjected  to  a  more  lenient  discipline,  and  enjoy  superior  privi 
leges.  (As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  excepting  the  additional 
hour  of  labor,  there  is  no  variation  in  the  discipline  of  the  two 
divisions.)  A  separate  time-table  for  each  will  distribute  six 
hours  of  labor  in  the  day  to  the  one  class,  and  from  seven  to 
eight  to  the  other."  The  grounds  of  distinction  between  the 
divisions  they  state  as  follows :  "  Those  who,  from  their  previous 
career,  may  be  deemed  disposed  and  likely  to  contaminate  their 
companions,  or  who  may  exhibit  an  intractable  disposition, 
either  before  commitment  or  during  their  residence  in  the  House, 
shall  occupy  the  north  wing.  Those  of  a  less  depraved  charac 
ter,  and  more  liable  to  be  injured  by  the  corrupting  companion 
ship  of  hardened  offenders,  shall  occupy  the  south  wing.  The 
age  of  the  vagrant  or  delinquent  shall  not  be  conclusive,  nor 
even  his  good  conduct  in  the  institution,  in  determining  his 
position ;  but  the  danger  of  imparting  or  receiving  contamina 
tion  shall  constitute  the  main  consideration." 

The  same  provision  was  made  for  the  classification  of  the  girls. 

On  the  last  day  of  October,  1854,  the  inmates  of  the  Refuge, 
now  numbering  about  four  hundred,  were  removed  to  the  new 
building  on  Randall's  Island,  and  on  the  24th  of  the  following 
November  it  was  formally  opened  by  very  impressive  public 
services.  There  were  present  among  the  guests,  Hon.  Horatio 
Seymour,  Governor  of  the  State,  members  of  the  State  Legis 
lature,  the  Mayor  and  Council  of  the  city,  and  a  large  number 


232       A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Opening  Speech  of  Mr.  Kelly. 

of  distinguished  citizens.  The  religious  services  were  conducted 
by  Drs.  Adams  and  Cuyler.  The  singing  was  by  the  children, 
under  the  lead  of  Julius  Hart,  Esq. 

The  opening  speech  of  President  Kelly  was  remarkably  ap 
propriate  and  eloquent.  Referring  to  the  fact,  that  the  New- York 
Refuge  was  a  pioneer  institution,  and  that  succeeding  institutions 
had  been  largely  modelled  after  its  plan,  he  remarked,  that  the 
fact  "  that  experience  has  shown  so  little  to  amend  in  the  orig 
inal  scheme,  and  that  so  few  changes  have  been  introduced  in 
the  various  places  where  these  institutions  have  been  established, 
affords  the  highest  testimony  that  can  be  offered  to  the  enlight 
ened  and  practical  judgment  of  the  founders  of  the  New- York 
House  of  Refuge.  The  improvements  that  have  been  intro 
duced  were  generally  anticipated  by  them,  and  the  principle  of 
separation  into  grades  seems  to  have  been  recognized  at  an  early 
period.  The  importance  of  this  principle,  with  respect  to 
females,  was  particularly  and  constantly  noticed  by  the  managers 
and  the  Ladies'  Committee,  under  whose  special  charge,  as  to 
moral  discipline,  the  Female  House  has  always  been  placed. 
New  York  may,  therefore,  justly  present  a  claim  of  precedence 
in  this  important  department  of  benevolence  and  reform 

"  For  several  years  past  the  institution  has  received  annually 
about  four  hundred  children  of  both  sexes.  This  process  of  ab 
sorption,  going  on  constantly,  is  rendering  an  important  service 
to  society.  It  is  like  the  abstraction  of  so  much  poison  .  .  . 
The  whole  number  admitted  since  the  commencement  is  6,269  ; 
the  number  now  in  the  House,  401,  namely,  331  boys,  and  70 
girls,  leaving  5,868  as  the  number  who  have  passed  from  under 
its  care,  including  those  who  have  been  surrendered  to  their 
friends,  and  not  deducting  the  few  deaths  that  have  occurred. 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  233 


Nature  of  its  Reformatory  Work. 


There  is  satisfactory  evidence  that  a  large  proportion  of  these 
children  have  been  saved  to  society,  to  become  industrious  and 
orderly  men  and  women. 

"  This  institution  blends  the  characteristics  of  a  private,  a  city, 
and  a  State  institution.  The  management  of  charities  by  asso 
ciations  of  citizens,  devoting  themselves,  from  benevolent  and 
disinterested  motives,  to  the  task,  is  a  strictly  American  inven 
tion,  and  has  been  found  in  practice  a  highly  economical  and 
advantageous  system.  There  are  some  charities,  and  among 
them  schools  of  reformation,  which  perhaps  could  not  be  con 
ducted  at  all  except  under  such  a  system,  or  some  arrangement 
which  would  secure  in  the  service  citizens  of  the  same  character 
and  qualifications.  If  abuses  arise,  there  is,  of  course,  power 
enough  in  the  public  authorities  to  interfere.'5 

Of  the  subjects  of  their  reformatory  work,  Mr.  Kelly  uses 
these  admirable  words  :  "A  divinely-imaged  soul  lies  wrapped 
up  in  the  life  of  each  one  of  these  children,  and  the  moral 
lineaments  of  his  heavenly  birth  may  be  restored.  They  are 
sufficiently  impressible  to  lay  aside  old,  and  to  put  on  new 
habits.  Past  deficiencies  may  be  remedied  by  instruction  and 
discipline.  Their  false  idea  of  the  constituent  elements  of 
human  happiness  may  be  removed  by  implanting  true  views  of 
life,  with  its  duties,  its  responsibilities,  and  its  retributions. 
Their  conceptions  of  their  own  position  in  the  world  may  be 
transformed  into  earnest  and  hopeful  aspirations.  The  love  of 
vicious  excitement  may  be  superseded  by  purer  tastes  and 
higher  motives.  This  is  the  spirit  which  should  pervade  the 
whole  scheme  of  reformatory  discipline  for  the  youthful  vagrant 
or  offender.  Who  of  us,  that  has  never  been  exposed  to  the 
temptations  that  have  surrounded  these  children,  and  has  been 


234     A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  House  no  Badge  of  Degradation. 

trained,  from  infancy  almost,  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  in  all  that  is  wholesome,  and  pure,  and  true,  can  put  his 
hand  upon  his  heart,  and  declare  that  he  is,  by  nature,  any  bet 
ter  than  one  of  them  ?  Who  of  us  dare  to  say,  that  if  he  had 
been  exposed  to  the  same  influences,  he  would  have  preserved 
his  integrity,  and  come  out  of  the  fiery  ordeal  unscathed  ?  The 
sight  of  such  a  group  of  children  as  is  collected  in  those  seats, 
and  in  yonder  gallery,  should  fill  us  with  humility,  and  teach  us 

lessons  of  mercy 

"It  is  no  degradation  to  the  children  that  they  have  been 
confined  in  this  House ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  a  progressive  step 
in  their  elevation  to  the  rank  and  character  of  respectable  citizens. 
And  happily,  it  does  not  act  as  a  process  of  degradation  upon 
them.  Instead  of  impairing  their  self-respect,  it  tends  to 
awaken  a  sentiment  of  dignity  by  the  reflection  and  conviction 
that  there  is  nothing  now  to  prevent  their  rising.  When  they 
are  ready  to  leave  the  institution,  they  go  forth  with  a  fair  edu 
cation,  and  with  habits  of  industry  adequate  to  provide  for  their 
wants.  A  sense  of  independence,  therefore,  accompanies  them. 
The  fact,  that  there  has  been  no  cessation  in  the  demand  for  ap 
prentices  since  the  commencement,  is  an  evidence  that  others  do 
not  regard  our  children  as  reprobates.  The  moral,  mental,  and 
industrial  training  they  have  received  makes  them  valuable  as 
apprentices.  And  when  they  enter  upon  the  new  course  of  life, 
after  graduating  from  the  House,  there  is  no  stigma  branded 
upon  their  characters,  rendering  their  intercourse  with  others 
embarrassing  or  disagreeable.  Those  who  conduct  with  propri 
ety  acquire  the  esteem  of  the  families  where  they  live,  and  of 
the  acquaintances  they  form,  and  gradually  rise  to  a  perfectly 
independent  and  respectable  position.  .  .  . 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  235 


Has  become  a  "City  of  Refuge." 


"  The  House  of  Refuge  has,  at  length,  a  permanent  resting- 
place,  capable  of  any  extension  that  may  be  found  necessary 
hereafter,  on  a  location  uniting  in  its  advantages  nearly  all  the 
conditions  that  could  be  desired.  Fifteen  years  has  been  the 
term  of  its  occupation  at  each  of  the  former  sites.  There  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  it  will  remain  here  for  centuries ;  for  we 
cannot  hope  that  the  time  will  ever  come  when  it  will  not  be 
wanted.  In  view,  therefore,  of  the  future,  and  the  important 
character  of  the  work,  it  is  the  part  of  sound  wisdom  to  project 
the  material  arrangements  upon  a  liberal  scale,  and  to  provide 
in  the  structure  every  thing  likely  to  conduce  to  the  object  in 
view.  A  House  of  Refuge,  worthy  of  the  City  and  the  State 
of  New  York,  should  not  be  restricted  in  the  means  and  appli 
ances  that  are  necessary  to  develop  a  perfect  system  of  juvenile 
reform.  .  .  .  This  is  no  longer  a  House — it  is  a  City  of  Refuge. 
The  managers  have  fully  realized  the  magnitude  of  the  under 
taking.  ...  It  is  now  seven  years  since  the  project  was 
started,  and  it  has  taken  all  that  time  to  surmount  the  various 
obstacles  that  were  to  be  overcome.  Tli£  honor  of  initiating 
the  movement  belongs  to  one  whose  name  is  recorded  on  the 
tablet  in  the  vestibule,  but  is,  we  trust,  recorded  on  the  imper 
ishable  tablet  of  an  eternal  mansion,  David  C.  Golden.  Fore 
most  on  the  roll  of  the  first  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Society 
stands  the  name  of  Cadwallader  D.  Colden;  foremost  let  the 
name  of  the  son  be  placed,  in  connection  wTith  the  foundation 
of  the  latter  House.  Next  in  order,  but  second  to  none,  in  the 
value  of  his  services,  in  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  benevolence, 
in  his  talents  and  unrelaxing  energy,  ranks  another,  whose  name 
has  also  disappeared  from  our  list  of  managers,  David  Seymour. 
...  Of  the  present  managers,  I  will  content  myself  with 


236      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Islands  a  Girdle  of  Charity. 

giving  you  the  names  of  the  Building  Committee,  under  whose 
charge  the  building  has  been  erected :  Charles  M.  Leupp,  Linus 
W.  Stevens,  Elias  G.  Drake,  Joshua  S.  Underbill,  J.  W.  C. 
Leveridge.  I  must  allude  particularly  to  the  service  of  one 
member  of  the  committee,  for  I  know  his  colleagues  will  be 
dissatisfied  with  me  if  I  fail  to  do  so.  Randall's  Island  bears  a 
twofold  testimony  to  the  labors  of  Linus  W.  Stevens,  in  the 
service  of  benevolence.  That  gentleman  served  upon  the  suc 
cessive  committees  of  the  Common  Council,  under  whose  charge 
the  Nursery  Buildings,  at  the  north  end,  were  erected,  and  now 
his  name  is  honorably  associated  with  the  temple  of  charity  that 
adorns  the  southern  end." 

Mr.  Kelly  then  presents  a  comprehensive  summary  of  the 
various  educational,  charitable,  and  reformatory  institutions  of 
the  city,  and  closes  with  these  eloquent  sentences :  "  How  beau 
tifully  this  belt  of  islands  encompasses  the  city  as  with  a  girdle 
of  charity !  The  cestus  of  Venus  did  not  add  more  grace  to  the 
queen  of  beauty  than  does  this  chain  of  beautiful  islands  to  the 
queenly  city.  Every  new  edifice  erected  upon  them  is  another  gem 
set  in  the  zone.  I  never  visit  these  islands  without  a  sentiment 
of  admiration,  excited  by  the  beauty  of  their  position  and  adapt- 
edness  to  the  purposes  to  which  they  have  been  appropriated. 
There  they  lie,  stretching  along  for  miles,  face  to  face  with  the 
city,  and  in  view  of  the  population,  with  their  penitentiaries  and 
workhouses  and  almshouses,  and  hospitals  and  refuges  and  nur 
series  and  public  cemetery,  teaching  no  mean  lesson  of  the  value 
of  home,  the  blessings  of  independence,  and  the  duties  of  men 
in  the  various  relations  of  life.  How  fortunate  that  they  have 
not  been  parcelled  into  lots,  and  occupied  with  improvements  of 
the  transition  period !  .  .  .  Far  more  are  they  to  be  admired 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  237 


Address  of  Governor  Seymour. 


with  these  institutions  of  blessed  charity  scattered  upon  them, 
than  if  a  nation's  treasures  had  been  expended  to  fit  them  for 
the  residence  of  a  monarch,  spanned  the  intervening  streets  with 
royal  bridges,  and  filled  them  with  palaces  and  galleries  like 
another  Versailles,  or  Oriental  luxury  had  decked  them  for  the 
summer  seraglio  of  a  sultan,  with  terraces,  and  garden  alleys 
paved  with  precious  marbles,  fountains  casting  their  spray  upon 
the  perfumed  air,  and  minarets  rising  in  graceful  majesty  from 
the  midst  of  the  luxuriant  foliage." 

After  singing,  interesting  addresses  were  delivered  by  two 
of  the  original  managers,  Hon.  Hugh  Maxwell  and  James  W. 
Gerard,  Esq.,  whose  emotions  on  this  occasion,  as  they  recalled 
the  "  day  of  small  things,"  can  be  more  readily  imagined  than 
described. 

Governor  Seymour  then  delivered  a  happy  address,  remark 
ing  in  its  course  that  during  the  previous  two  years  he  had  been 
compelled  to  act  upon  more  than  two  thousand  applications  for 
pardon.  "  It  has  been,"  he  says,  "  my  daily  and  painful  duty  to 
listen  to  the  entreaties  of  those  who  sought  to  turn  away  from 
themselves  or  their  friends  the  consequences  of  their  guilt;  I 
cannot,  therefore,  but  feel  the  deepest  interest  for  an  institution 
which  converts  the  very  errors  of  youth  into  a  blessing  rather 
than  a  curse.  While,  upon  those  who  enter  the  walls  of  an  ordi 
nary  prison,  the  door  of  hope  is  closed,  the  portals  of  this  insti 
tution  open  up  to  the  offender  the  path  to  happiness  and  to 
virtue.  The  ordinary  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  land  impresses 
an  indelible  stigma  upon  the  future  fame  of  the  offender,  while 
here  all  stains  are  wiped  away;  early  delinquencies  are  oblit 
erated,  rendering  the  offender  in  his  future  life  a  good  citizen. 
Those  who  have  occasion  to  engage  in  the  legislation  of  our 


238      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Completion  of  House  for  Girls. 

country,  or  to  watch  the  execution  of  its  laws,  are  daily  taught 
how  utterly  inadequate  are  all  statutes  to  restrain  vice  or  to  en 
force  virtue.  In  the  discharge  of  my  official  duties,  I  have  fre 
quently  felt  the  inadequacy  of  man's  wisdom,  and  have  been 
made  grateful  that  there  were  higher  and  more  reliable  in 
fluences  upon  which  we  might  safely  rest  our  hopes  for  the  ame 
lioration  of  our  social  condition.  The  chief  value  of  this  insti 
tution  consists  in  this — not  that  it  constrains,  but  that  it  edu 
cates — not  that  it  strikes  the  vindictive  blow,  but  evolves  and 
cultivates  the  better  sentiments  and  feelings  of  our  natures. 
A  comparison  between  this  asylum  and  its  influence  upon  those 
confided  to  its  care,  with  the  ordinary  prisons  of  our  land  and 
their  wretched  inmates,  will  teach  us  to  feel  the  beauty  and  the 
truth  of  the  sentiment  of  the  philosopher,  when  he  said  that 
'  the  unwritten  laws  of  religious  nurture,  of  moral  culture  and 
of  virtuous  education,  will  ever  be  found  a  sure  dependence,  and 
will  constitute  the  very  bonds  and  ligaments  of  the  States,  when 
the  enactments  of  the  legislator  shall  be  found  vain  and  inef 
ficient.'" 

Thus  opened  auspiciously  the  new  era  of  careful  classification 
and  enlarged  facilities  for  discipline,  labor,  instruction,  and  moral 
training.  But  one  building,  however,  was  yet  completed,  and 
the  girls  occupied  a  portion  of  one  wing  of  the  boys'  House. 
It  was  not  until  the  Twenty-sixth  Annual  Report^  for  1860,  that 
the  managers  were  able  to  say,  "  the  completion  of  the  House 
for  the  girls  has  at  last  enabled  them  to  institute  the  long-desired 
and  fundamental  system  of  classification.  One  division  of  boys 
now  occupies  the  south  wing  of  the  main  building  recently 
vacated  by  the  girls.  A  complete  separation  is  thus  made  in  all 
the  departments  of  the  House.  The  girls  are  divided  in  the 


OLIVER  S.  STRONG.  ESQ. 


RANDALL'S   ISLAND.  239 


Death  of  Mr.  Kelly.— O.  S.  Strong,  Esq.— Chas.  M.  Leupp. 

same  manner,  each  division  occupying  their  own  appropriate 
wing  of  the  House  for  females.  From  the  immediate  effects  ob 
served,  the  managers  feel  encouraged  in  the  prospect  of  a  very 
marked  improvement  in  the  order  and  other  beneficial  results 
of  the  system." 

April  28,  1856,  the  Society  was  called  to  mourn  the  loss 
of  its  very  efficient  third  president,  Mr.  Kelly,  who  was  succeeded 
by  the  present  occupant  of  the  chair,  Oliver  S.  Strong,  Esq. 
Mr.  Kelly  was  permitted  to  see  the  great  work  nearly  completed, 
in  which  he  had  taken  such  a  lively  interest,  and  to  which  he 
had  largely  contributed  by  his  personal  efforts  and  influence. 
He  was  followed  in  a  few  years  by  another,  whose  place,  in  the 
sadness  of  the  first  hour  of  his  sudden  and  peculiarly  afflictive 
death,  it  seemed  difficult  to  supply.  He  had  been  one  of  the 
most  active  members  of  the  Building  Committee,  and  contributed 
much,  by  his  zeal,  wisdom,  and  business  tact,  to  the  successful 
issue  of  the  great  undertaking  upon  which  the  managers  had 
entered.  Of  Mr.  Charles  M.  Leupp  the  managers  say,  in  their 
Thirty-fifth  Annual  Report, "  In  the  death  of  this  gentleman  have 
been  sundered  ties  cemented  by  long  periods  of  active  duty  and 
cooperation  in  behalf  of  the  interests  of  the  House  of  Refuge. 
His  services  were  freely  and  cheerfully  rendered  in  the  labors 
of  some  of  its  most  important  committees  during  the  course  of 
nineteen  years.  In  its  favor  he  incurred  large  pecuniary  respon 
sibilities,  and  profoundly  sympathized,  with  the  ardor  of  a  warm 
and  generous  nature,  and  as  a  good  citizen,  in  its  large  and  be 
neficent  public  aims." 

In  August,  1856,  an  interesting  experiment  in  the  work  of 
juvenile  reform  was  inaugurated  in  Lancaster,  Mass.  The  State 
Legislature,  moved  by  numerous  petitions  and  a  voluntary  sub- 


240      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

State  Industrial  School,  Lancaster,  Mass. 

scription  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  for  the  purpose,  made  pro 
vision  for  the  establishment  of  an  Industrial  School  for  girls ; 
boys  only  being  admitted  into  the  State  Reform  School  at 
Westborough. 

The  site  selected  was  an  old  brick  mansion,  in  the  ancient 
town  of  Lancaster,  situated  upon  a  fine,  high  lawn,  embowered 
in  elms,  and  surrounded  by  a  farm  of  one  hundred  acres  (since 
increased  to  one  hundred  and  forty),  sloping  downward  to  a 
branch  of  the  Nashua  River.  The  lawn  was  increased  in  size 
and  made  symmetrical  by  the  generous  gift  from  the  town  of 
the  old  common,  or  training-field,  that  laid  unimproved  in  front 
of  the  estate. 

The  large,  square  "  Stillwell  Mansion,"  by  the  outlay  of  a 
few  thousand  dollars,  was  made  to  answer,  quite  conveniently, 
for  one  of  the  family  houses.  From  the  adjoining  mountain 
water  was  brought  down  in  pipes,  in  sufficient  quantity,  and  of 
an  adequate  "  head,"  to  meet  all  the  wants  of  the  institution,  and 
to  be  distributed  in  every  portion  of  it.  The  site  was  every  thing 
that  could  be  desired,  and  was  secured  at  a  comparatively  small 
price.  To  the  indefatigable  labors  of  Colonel  Francis  B.  Fay, 
who  deserves,  for  many  reasons,  the  title  of  "  father  "  to  the  in 
stitution,  the  State  owes  the  admirable  location  of  the  school, 
and  the  marked  economy  attending  its  establishment. 

After  a  careful  examination  of  the  plans  of  the  more  promi 
nent  European  and  American  institutions  for  the  reformation  of 
juvenile  offenders,  and  calling  to  their  aid  the  practical  thinkers 
and  writers  upon  this  delicate  question,  the  commissioners  re 
ported  to  the  Legislature  a  system  of  organization  and  discipline, 
called,  to  distinguish  it,  the  "family  plan,"  following  quite 
closely  the  arrangement  of  the  institution  for  boys  at  Mettray, 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  241 


The  Family  Plan  inaugurated. 


in  France,  which  was  at  that  time  attracting  more  attention 
among  the  friends  of  reform  than  any  other  in  Europe  or  Amer 
ica.  Heretofore  every  public  institution  of  the  kind  in  this 
country  had  been  upon  the  "  congregate  plan,"  constructed  very 
similarly  to  penitentiaries,  but  made  more  comfortable,  and  wear 
ing  no  penal  aspect  in  their  discipline.  Greater  indulgence  than 
is  permitted  in  a  penitentiary  has  always  been  allowed  in  passing 
in  and  out  of  the  limits  of  the  reformatory,  on  the  part  of  the 
children,  and  the  officers  are  expected  to  hold  a  parental  rela 
tion  to  the  inmates,  but  still  these  institutions  have  been  included 
within  walls,  and  the  dormitories  are  closed  by  locks  and  bolts. 

But  the  commissioners  proposed  that,  at  Lancaster,  separate 
buildings  should  be  constructed,  capable  of  accommodating  thirty 
girls  in  each,  and  that  each  house  should  be  a  separate  family, 
under  its  appropriate  matron,  assistant  matron  (who  should  also 
be  the  school-teacher),  and  housekeeper.  All  the  work  and 
study  of  the  family,  it  was  arranged,  should  go  on  under  its  own 
roof.  No  walls  enclosed  the  village  of  homes  that  it  was  pro 
posed  to  erect,  and  no  fastenings  defended  the  windows  of  the 
sleeping-rooms  from  offering  their  facilities  for  the  escape  of  the 
inmates.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  only  two  girls  have  suc 
ceeded  in  escaping  from  the  school  since  its  establishment,  and 
these  during  the  first  six  months  of  its  history.  In  each  house 
it  was  proposed  to  distribute  a  portion  of  the  older  and  of  the 
younger  girls — thus  keeping  up  the  idea  of  a  family  and  securing 
the  easier  performance  of  the  housework.  The  older  girls  were 
to  have  separate  rooms,  while  the  younger  slept  with  a  monitor 
in  an  open  dormitory.  The  work  proposed  for  the  girls  was 
housework,  the  making  of  their  own  garments,  knitting,  and 
such  plain  trades  as  skirt-making  and  straw-braiding.  From 
16 


242      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Manner  of  committing  Subjects. 

these  sources,  in  the  experiment  of  ten  years,  the  time  of  the 
children  has  been  fully  occupied,  when  not  engaged  in  school  or 
in  their  necessary  recreations. 

The  only  change  in  the  manner  of  committing  subjects  to 
the  school  from  that  pursued  at  Westborough,  in  the  same  State, 
was  the  particularly  happy  arrangement  to  avoid  the  disgrace 
and  taint  of  the  court-room  by  appointing  special  commissioners 
to  hear  the  complaints  against  the  children,  and  constituting 
judges  of  probate,  ex  officio,  commissioners  for  this  purpose. 
By  this  means,  also,  the  institution,  it  was  thought,  through  the 
more  careful  supervision  of  special  officers,  would  be  saved  from 
being  overrun  by  a  class  of  hardened  and  hopeless  criminals,  or 
by  diseased  and  idiotic  children. 

Girls  were  permitted  to  be  sent  to  the  institution  between 
the  ages  of  seven  and  sixteen,  and  were,  at  first,  committed  until 
eighteen  years  of  age.  Since  its  organization,  the  trustees  have 
received  power  from  the  Legislature  to  retain,  under  certain  cir 
cumstances,  the  custody  of  their  subjects  until  they  are  twenty- 
one.  As  in  other  institutions,  the  trustees  were  empowered  to 
indenture  the  girls,  after  having  bestowed  upon  them  sufficient 
training  in  the  schools,  to  good  families  in  the  State,  or  beyond 
its  borders. 

The  institution  was  publicly  dedicated,  and  the  first  house 
opened,  August  27,  1856,  and  was,  in  a  few  months,  filled  with 
inmates  of  various  ages,  and  a  large  proportion  of  them  of 
American  parentage.  This  somewhat  remarkable  fact,  although 
the  proportion  has  sometimes  varied,  has  continued  to  charac 
terize  the  subjects  of  the  school  until  the  present  time.  The 
new  houses  were  constructed  of  brick,  two  stories  in  height,  very 
neatly  and  conveniently  finished,  at  an  expense  of  about  twelve 


I 

RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  243 


Appearance  of  the  Institution.— Its  Eesults. 


thousand  dollars  each.  By  April,  1857,  the  third  house  had 
been  opened,  and,  in  January,  1860,  the  fourth.  In  1861,  the 
fifth,  and  last  house,  a  wooden  dwelling-house,  fitted  up  for  the 
purpose,  was  provided  to  meet  the  constantly-increasing  demand 
for  accommodations.  From  the  opening,  the  capacity  of  the 
school  has  always  been  fully  taxed,  and  there  has  been  scarcely 
a  month  when  the  rooms  have  not  been  uncomfortably  crowded, 
and  applications  from  commissioners  declined.  A  convenient 
house,  already  on  the  grounds,  formed  a  pleasant  residence  for 
the  Superintendent,  and  another  for  the  Farmer.  A  neat,  white 
village  church,  standing  unoccupied,  was  removed  at  small  ex 
pense,  and  placed  upon  the  lawn ;  and  thus,  five  homes,  capable 
of  receiving  one  hundred  and  fifty  inmates,  two  family  resi 
dences,  and  a  pleasant  chapel,  were  secured  at  an  expense  of  but 
little  over  sixty  thousand  dollars. 

In  October,  1866,  there  had  been  received  into  the  school 
464  inmates ;  there  were  present  at  that  time,  in  the  different 
homes,  132,  and  234  had  been  returned  to  friends,  or  completed 
the  term  of  their  indentures.  The  remainder  had  been  removed 
to  hospitals  or  almshouses,  or  discharged  as  unsuitable. 

Without  doubt,  a  large  proportion  of  these  girls  are  now 
living  honest  and  pure  lives.  Some  of  them  are  filling  quite 
conspicuous  positions  as  teachers  or  matrons  in  similar  schools, 
who  seemed,  at  the  time  they  were  sent  to  the  institution,  pre 
destined  to  a  life  of  sin  and  sorrow.  Many  have  not  fulfilled  the 
expectations  excited  in  their  behalf,  and  are  now  wandering 
amid  the  retributions  of  the  life  of  a  transgressor. 

The  close  and  beautiful  relation  existing  between  three  Chris 
tian  women  and  thirty  young  girls,  sitting  at  the  same  table, 
and  forming  one  circle  in  family  prayer,  and  in  all  domestic  and 


244      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Difficulties  of  the  System. 

social  duties  and  enjoyments,  must  have,  as  the  experiment  has 
proved,  a  powerful  and  redeeming  influence.  It  is  possible  that 
the  Industrial  Home  may  have  been  so  pleasant  and  so  light  in 
its  exactions  upon  the  girl,  that  sometimes  she  has  turned  away 
dissatisfied  from  a  somewhat  rough  and  exacting  country  home ; 
or  an  ambition  has  been  aroused  for  other  employments  than 
housework,  and,  in  the  failure  to  gratify  this  newly-awakened 
taste,  the  temptation  to  turn  aside  to  the  paths  of  sin  may  have 
been  awakened  afresh.  It  may  also  have  happened  that  the  dif 
ficulties  attending  the  indenturing  of  the  girls  have  induced  the 
retaining  of  children  too  long  in  the  school.  All  institution-life 
is,  as  we  have  occasion  often  to  remark  in  this  volume,  unnatu 
ral,  and  no  child  should  be  confined  in  any  one,  however  im 
proving,  longer  than  is  indispensable  to  prepare  it  for  the  natu 
ral  home  in  a  family,  where  it  must,  certainly,  ultimately  live. 
"We  should  never  weary  of  the  experiment  of  placing  the  child 
in  a  home.  If  it  fails  in  one,  it  may  find  a  congenial  atmosphere 
in  another. 

All  these  tendencies  and  open  problems  are  constantly  in  the 
thoughts  and  discussions  of  the  cultivated  and  benevolent  gen 
tlemen  that  watch  over  the  interests  of  this  favorite  institution 
of  the  State,  and  the  highest  success  that  wisdom  can  secure  for 
it  will  be  their  earnest  and  constant  endeavor  to  attain. 

To  the  writer,  it  would  seem  an  improvement  upon  this  sys 
tem,  to  have  one  larger  building,  where  all  the  inmates  should  be 
at  first  received,  and  afterward  be  detailed  to  the  various  homes. 
This  building  might  admit  of  some  restraint,  as  all  attempts  to 
escape  are  in  the  first  weeks  of  a  child's  connection  with  the 
institution.  In  this  building  might  also  be  the  rooms  of  the 
Superintendent's  family  and  the  public  offices.  Here  also  accom- 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND.  245 


Kev.  Mr.  Ames. 


modation  could  be  provided  for  girls  returned  from  their  places, 
or  sent  back  by  the  commissioners  after  their  discharge.  Such 
girls  often  exercise  an  unhappy  influence  over  one  of  the  fami 
lies,  by  the  stubborn  tempers  or  vicious  habits  which  they  usually 
bring  back  with  them. 

It  would  be  better,  the  writer  thinks,  not  to  have  separate 
schools  in  each  family,  but  to  have  one  school-house,  and  all  the 
children  attend  there,  as  they  meet  in  chapel.  This  would  ad 
mit  of  better  classification  and  instruction,  and  break  up,  in  a 
measure,  the  somewhat  monastic  character  of  the  institution-life. 

But,  take  it  altogether,  there  probably  is  not  a  public  institu 
tion  of  reform  in  the  world  better  subserving  the  great  purpose 
for  which  it  was  established,  or  bringing  more  honor  or  satisfac 
tion  to  the  State  which  has  given  it  birth,  than  the  State  Indus 
trial  School  at  Lancaster. 

The  school  is  particularly  fortunate  in  its  present  superin 
tendent,  Rev.  Mr.  Ames,  who  is  also  its  chaplain,  and  in  the* 
excellent  ladies  who,  with  much  personal  sacrifice,  have  devoted 
themselves  to  this  noble  work  of  reforming  the  tempted  children 
of  their  own  sex. 

The  writer  of  this  volume,  who  had  the  honor  of  first  carry 
ing  out,  as  superintendent,  the  intentions  and  wishes  of  the 
benevolent  and  intelligent  founders  of  this  beautiful  reformatory, 
may  be  permitted  to  state,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  with  all  the 
outward  indulgence  possible  in  a  school  for  one  sex  only,  and 
the  charming  scenery  of  the  place,  with  the  limited  number  in 
each  house,  and  the  homelike  appearance  of  the  buildings,  the 
girls,  although  contented,  were  not  more  cheerful  than  are  the 
occupants  of  our  girls'  department  in  the  New-York  House; 
they  were  not  more  readily  approached  with  moral  motives,  nor 


246      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Reform  School  in  Lancaster,  Ohio. 

more  powerfully  assimilated  to  the  characters  of  their  officers, 
nor  more  generally  satisfied  with  their  position  when  discharged 
from  the  institution,  than  are  the  girls  gathered  under  the  care 
of  our  Society. 

At  the  commencement  of  1858  a  similar  institution  for  boys 
was  opened  in  Lancaster,  Ohio.  It  has  five  houses,  capable  of 
holding  from  forty  to  fifty  boys,  with  suitable  offices,  school 
and  chapel  accommodations.  It  is  situated  in  an  agricultural 
country;  and  the  boys  are  chiefly  employed  in  farm  labors. 
Considerable  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  cultivation  of  vines 
and  small  fruits ;  but  the  results  have  not  been  very  encouraging 
in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view.  The  head  of  the  institution,  Mr. 
Howe,  is  a  man  of  rare  ability,  and  he  has  succeeded  in  infusing 
his  own  spirit  in  a  good  degree  through  the  somewhat  compli 
cated  and  difficult  system  of  discipline  which  has  been  instituted 
in  this  interesting  forest  reformatory.  The  moral  influence  of 
'the  place  is  represented  to  be  eminently  wholesome,  and  the 
statistics  of  those  that  have  been  discharged  are  encouraging. 
The  school  is  an  American  copy  of  the  French  Mettray,  with  the 
modifications  rendered  necessary  by  the  impossibility  of  securing 
the  number  of  carefully-trained  and  devoted  officers  which  the 
Catholic  and  Protestant  brotherhoods  of  France  and  Germany 
yield  to  the  institutions  of  these  countries. 

These  are  interesting  and  attractive  experiments ;  and  at  this 
hour  they  are  particularly  arresting  the  observation  of  commis 
sioners  of  States,  in  whose  limits  institutions  of  reform  have  not 
yet  been  established.  There  is  nothing,  however,  in  the  results 
that  are  to  be  attributed  to  the  systems  of  discipline  rather  than 
to  the  successful  reformatory  agents  that  have  been  happily 
secured  to  work  them,  and  the  more  complicated  the  system  the 


E  AND  ALL'S  ISLAND.  047 


The  Reformatory  simply  prepares  for  a  Home. 


more  difficult  it  will  be  to  find  men  to  run  them.  We  are  never 
to  forget  that  all  institution-life  is  simply  a  necessary  evil,  and 
the  great  work  is  to  prepare  the  child,  by  moral  cultivation,  by 
the  habit  of  industry  and  the  rudiments  of  learning,  to  find  a 
better  home  and  a  fair  beginning  for  life  in  a  respectable  Chris 
tian  family.  If  a  boy,  through  great  moral  weakness  or*  per 
versity,  cannot  be  trusted  in  the  community,  then  some  other 
place  besides  a  reformatory  should  be  furnished  by  the  State  to 
receive  him,  and  to  secure  the  expense  of  his  maintenance  from 
his  productive  industry. 


248      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Convention  of  Managers  and  Superintendents. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  CONGKEGATE  SYSTEM  IN  KEFOEMATOEIES. 

ON  the  12th  of  May,  1857,  and  at  about  the  same  date  in 
1859,  conventions  of  the  managers  and  superintendents  of 
Houses  of  Refuge  were  held  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  a 
very  general  attendance  from  all  parts  of  the  country  was  se 
cured.  A  valuable  correspondence  was  also  held  with  the  most 
prominent  friends  of  juvenile  reform  in  Great  Britain  and 
France. 

Almost  every  question  relating  to  the  care  and  cure  of  youths, 
vagrant,  orphaned,  and  criminal,  was  fully  considered,  and  the 
various  experiments  under  trial  throughout  the  civilized  world 
were  presented  and  discussed.  The  novelty  and  interest  with 
which  the  family  and  separate  systems  were  invested  made 
them,  on  the  whole,  the  favorites  among  the  friends  of  reform. 
The  peculiarly  attractive  accounts  of  the  German  and  French 
reformatories,  and  the  successful  experiment  in  Lancaster,  Mass., 
just  about  to  be  repeated  in  a  town  of  the  same  name  in  Ohio, 
with  the  other  sex,  gave  a  marked  prominence  to  this  form  of 
organic  effort  for  the  rescue  of  criminal  children.  It  naturally 
led  to  a  thorough  revision  of  the  whole  question. 

Since  that  time  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  State  Charities 
has,  through  some  of  its  members,  such  as  Dr.  Howe  and  its 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IN  REFORMATORIES.   249 

Young  Criminals  cannot  safely  be  intrusted  to  Families. 

cultivated  first  secretary,  Mr.  F.  B.  Sanborn,  given  much  con 
sideration  to  this  question.  The  leaning  of  this  Board  seems  to 
be  rather  to  the  opinion  that  no  large  institutions  should  be 
established,  but  that  vagrant  and  criminal  children  should  be 
boarded  and  disciplined  at  the  expense  of  the  State  in  individual 
families.  This,  indeed,  without  much  expense  to  the  State,  is 
the  work  that  Children's  Aid  Societies  are  constantly  doing  for 
the  vagrant  youths  of  the  street.  But  young  criminals,  now 
numbered  by  thousands,  require  more  energetic  treatment  than 
any  private  family  could  be  expected  to  bestow.  Many  of  these 
have  fallen  into  crime,  not  through  the  want,  as  we  have  seen, 
of  excellent  homes,  but  through  peculiar  weakness  or  corrupting 
influences. 

Orphan  and  half-orphan  asylums,  magdalen  and  temporary 
homes — all  deserve  the  aid  they  receive  from  the  community, 
and  more ;  for  they  are  doing  the  work  of  Christ  upon  the 
earth,  and  affording  their  supporters  the  opportunity  of  learning 
the  truth  of  that  saying  of  the  Master,  that  "  it  is  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive."  Small  voluntary  reformatories,  news 
boys'  lodgings,  and  the  deporting  of  homeless  children  to  the 
broad  farms  of  the  Western  country,  are  accomplishing  an  untold 
amount  of  good ;  but,  after  all  these  agencies  have  reached  the 
limit  of  their  possibility,  the  words  of  prophecy  will  still  be  illus 
trated  in  reference  to  all  dense  communities :  "  And  the  streets 
of  the  city  shall  be  full  of  boys  and  girls  playing  in  the  streets 
thereof."* 

The  immense  importation  of  the  poorer  and  lower  classes  of 
Europe,  the  most  destitute  portion  of  which  lingers  in  our  East- 

*  Zech.  viii.  5. 


250      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Characteristics  of  Boys  sent  to  Kefuge. 

ern  cities,  greatly  increases  the  statistics  of  exposed  and  criminal 
children.  Poor  blood,  low  moral  culture,  the  pinch  of  poverty, 
the  habit  of  indulgence,  predispose  this  class  to  early  crime. 
After  all  the  institutions  we  have  named,  and  many  others,  have 
sifted  out  from  this  sad  mass  of  childhood  their  appropriate  sub 
jects,  from  the  remainder,  the  police  officers  and  courts  are  con 
stantly  gathering  up  large  numbers  of  young  criminals  from  the 
streets,  but  leaving  many  more  behind  and  winking  at  their  first 
offences.  The  latter,  as  well  as  former,  must  be  cared  for  in 
some  way,  or  the  fruitful  streams  that  supply  adult  crime  will 
not  be  closed. 

Of  those  arrested,  there  will  be  boys  of  sixteen,  often  of 
eighteen,  but  still  wearing  a  youthful  aspect,  and  giving  some 
promise  of  redemption,  under  wholesome  influences ;  some  of 
twelve  and  fourteen,  also,  who  have  committed  quite  serious 
crimes,  such  as  grand  larceny,  burglary,  arson,  forgery,  and 
assault  with  dangerous  weapons.  To  send  these  boys  to  the 
penitentiary  is  to  deliberately  give  them  over  to  ruin,  and  to 
entail  upon  the  community  the  frightful  tax  of  a  life  of  crime. 
No  family  would  receive  such  a  boy  at  once  into  its  bosom,  and 
the  defenceless  door  of  a  family  school,  if  any  considerable  num 
ber  of  such  were  received,  would  be  an  irresistible  invitation  to 
them  to  escape,  until  such  time  as  would  be  required  for  the 
silver  links  of  moral  chains  to  be  forged  and  drawn  around  the 
heart.  Family  institutions  defend  themselves  by  refusing  this 
class,  or  only  receiving  them  in  very  limited  numbers,  and  at 
intervals  so  long  that  they  may  be  morally  digested.  Positive 
restraint  at  once  removes  the  irritability  caused  by  the  hope 
of  escape,  and  prepares  the  way  for  the  discipline  of  labor,  educa 
tion,  and  piety.  The  arrangement  of  various  divisions,  readily 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IN  REFORMATORIES.        251 

Effect  of  Training  upon  Mature  Boys. 

secured  in  large  establishments,  defends  younger  and  softer  boys 
from  the  possible  injury  of  contact  with  those  more  confirmed  in 
criminal  habits. 

Here,  then,  we  approach  the  measure  of  the  moral  power 
of  large  congregate  institutions.  It  becomes  a  question  of  fact 
with  a  long  list  of  witnesses.  Many  of  the  boys,  described  above, 
undoubtedly  go  forth  from  such  a  congregated  refuge  as  the 
New- York  House  to  a  life  of  crime  and  to  the  suffering  of  its 
penalties.  But  the  overwhelming  majority  of  even  these  mature 
boys,  as  shown  by  the  experiment  of  nearly  fifty  years,  turn  out 
well.  The  boys  themselves,  by  their  letters,  or  by  their  verbal 
testimony,  and  their  friends  also,  attribute  their  reformation  and 
their  success  in  life  to  purposes  suggested  and  formed  when 
under  the  discipline  of  the  House  of  Refuge. 

The  files  of  the  House  are  full  of  letters,  and  its  daily  jour 
nal  of  recorded  visits,  of  individuals  of  this  class,  who,  having 
reached  manhood,  have  voluntarily  given  expression  to  their  be 
lief  that  the  Refuge  was  their  moral  birthplace. 

Another  very  considerable  portion  of  juvenile  offenders  not 
finding  legitimate  discipline  in  other  institutions,  are,  as  has 
already  been  suggested,  boys  about  the  same  age,  from  fourteen 
to  eighteen,  who  have  quite  respectable  parents,  and  have  been 
brought  up  in  indulgent  homes.  They  are  easily  influenced, 
often  very  capable,  and  have  been  drawn  into  temptation 
and  positive  crime  by  vicious  companions.  They  have  been 
sent  away  to  school,  removed  to  friends  in  the  country, 
placed  in  good  situations  for  business,  but  have  baffled  every 
effort  of  parents  and  friends  to  secure  a  reformation  from  ruin 
ous  habits.  The  humble  garb,  the  plain  fare,  the  daily  labor, 
the  daily  schoolj  the  positive  discipline — all  so  different  from 


252      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Upon  Tempted  Children  of  a  Good  Parentage. 

home,  have,  in  a  large  number  of  such  instances  (and  these  are 
very  trying  cases),  to  our  personal  knowledge,  been  exceedingly 
efficacious.  At  the  end  of  a  year  or  more  of  such  training,  with 
constant  moral  influences  operating  upon  the  mind,  and  the  love 
of  home  expressing  itself,  from  time  to  time,  in  visits  and  affect 
ing  letters,  we  have  often  found  that  a  permanent  reformation 
has  taken  place. 

The  parental  relation  should  not  be  sundered  when  there  is 
considerable  promise  that  it  will  be  a  shelter  and  a  comfort  to 
the  child.  Such  children  the  State  does  not  need  to  remove 
entirely  from  friends,  nor  to  send  beyond  its  limits,  but  only  to 
discipline  awhile,  and  then  return  to  then-  natural  guardians. 

We  find  this  same  interesting  and  difficult  class  of  subjects 
in  the  other  sex. 

While  this  volume  is  passing  through  the  press,  a  father 
from  the  city  of  Albany  accompanies  his  daughter  to  the  House. 
She  has  enjoyed  every  opportunity  that  money  could  provide  to 
secure  an  education.  Her  parents  are  church-members,  and  she 
has  been  connected  from  her  childhood  with  a  Sunday-school. 
She  has  just  passed  her  sixteenth  birthday — a  bright,  fine-look 
ing  girl.  No  language  can  do  justice  to  the  agony,  shame,  and 
anxiety  she  has  brought  into  the  hearts  of  her  parents.  She  has, 
in  a  fit  of  passion,  thrown  a  fifty-dollar  bill  into  the  flames ;  several 
times  she  has  set  the  house  on  fire,  so  that  her  father  could  not 
renew  his  insurance,  and,  most  terrible  act  of  all,  she  left  her 
indulgent,  Christian  home,  and  was  found  in  a  house  of  ill-repute 
in  the  city  of  New  York.  The  interview  between  the  child  and 
her  father,  when  they  separated  at  the  Refuge,  was  affecting  in 
the  extreme.  The  girl  had  no  complaint  to  make  of  her  home, 
had  by  no  means  lost  her  sensibility,  but  bitterly  blamed  her- 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IN   REFORMATORIES.        253 

Upon  the  Foreign  Children  of  the  Streets. 

self  for  her  conduct.  This,  her  father  assured  us,  she  had  done 
many  times  before.  Now,  what,  in  a  private  family,  or  in  a 
small,  undefended  family  school,  could  be  done  with  such  a 
girl? 

Another  and  great  class,  affording  subjects  for  the  congre 
gate  institution,  is  the  foreign  childhood  that  floats  along  the 
streets  and  docks  of  the  city;  vagabondish,  thievish,  familiar 
with  the  vicious  ways  and  places  of  the  town ;  in  rags,  living  in 
dirty  and  often  vile  resorts,  having  no  education,  knowing  no 
Sabbath,  and  with  lips  friendly  to  oaths,  but  strangers  to 
prayers.  Families  in  the  country  will  not  take  these  children 
in  this  condition ;  and  if  they  would,  these  little  Arabs,  the  next 
night  after  their  country  adoption,  would  take  the  turnpike  or 
railroad-bed,  and  beg  or  steal  their  way  back  again  to  the  city. 
"  Their  name  is  legion."  They  pass  the  nights,  many  of  them, 
in  boxes  and  old  sheds,  and  wherever  they  can  find  a  shelter. 
We  had  one  little  fellow  who  had  not  slept  in  a  house  for  more 
than  six  months.  The  money  they  earn  or  steal  is  expended  in 
low  theatres  or  in  drinking-saloons ;  and  boys  of  a  most  imma 
ture  age  are  found  bearing  the  marks  of  vices  that  seem  only 
possible  to  adults.  Something  more  than  shelter  is  necessary. 
Two-thirds  of  our  city  boys  have,  at  some  time,  availed  them 
selves  of  the  opportunities  of  the  newsboys'  lodgings.  Family 
institutions  cannot  be  multiplied  with  sufficient  rapidity  near 
dense  populations,  to  meet  the  requisitions  of  this  class.  These 
form  the  breeding-sources  of  crime;  but  when  these  festering 
rags  are  shaken  up,  after  a  period  of  discipline,  often,  bright, 
capable,  and  reliable  boys  are  found  to  have  been  in  them.  Now, 
these  boys,  in  twelve  or  eighteen  months,  will  show  their  true 
character  and  promise  for  the  future.  In  some  instances  they 


254      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Is  the  Moral  Influence  of  such  Institutions  bad  ? 

are  found  to  have  mothers  that  need  their  assistance,  and  a  little 
effort  often  secures  for  them,  after  the  training  of  the  Refuge,  a 
position  where  they  can  obtain  good  wages,  and  rescue  a  parent 
from  the  almshouse.  Many  of  these  boys  have  no  relish  for 
farm-life :  if  sent  into  the  country  they  will  run ;  but,  placed  at  a 
trade  in  the  city,  will  do  well.  But  the  majority,  after  this  pre 
liminary  discipline,  are  distributed  over  the  country,  and  placed 
in  the  very  best  institutions  on  the  family  system — i.  e.,  a  farm 
er's  family,  with  this  one  boy  to  be  trained  in  it. 

If  the  moral  influence  of  such  an  institution  as  we  are  con 
sidering  is  unwholesome,  it  must  appear  in  the  experiment  of 
years,  upon  these  classes.  If  conspiracies  are  formed  in  them, 
which  are  developed  after  the  boys  are  discharged,  the  fact  would 
soon  become  patent.  The  records  of  the  largest  institution  in 
the  country,  and  probably  in  the  world,  wiiose  inmates  have  all 
been  received  through  the  courts,  show  that  the  number  of  those 
known  to  do  well  after  their  discharge,  far  exceeds  the  number 
that  do  ill ;  and  what  is  particularly  significant,  is  the  fact,  that 
at  this  time,  when  its  numbers  are  nearly  fifty  per  cent,  greater 
than  heretofore,  there  are  more  perceptible  evidences  of  the 
presence  of  a  strong  moral  influence  among  the  inmates,  than 
for  many  years  since.  In  all  this  time  there  is  no  recorded  in 
stance  of  one  dating  his  ruin  to  intimacies  formed  in  the  House, 
or  of  combinations  to  commit  crime  after  discharge.  This 
plainly  shows,  that  what  may  be  considered  the  incident  evils  of 
a  congregate  institution  may  be  very  largely  controlled. 

Before  considering  two  or  three  of  the  positive  advantages 
of  a  large  institution,  especially  near  a  city  population,  it  may 
be  pertinent  to  the  subject  to  remark,  that  our  experience  and 
observation  do  not  confirm  the  opinion  that  a  very  long  period 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IN   REFORMATORIES.        255 

Should  be  retained  in  House  but  a  Short  Time. 

at  any  institution  is  desirable.  In  the  European  establishments 
the  inmates  are  expected  to  learn  the  trades  that  they  will  after 
ward  follow,  and  many  forms  of  business,  such  as  printing, 
book-binding,  carpentering,  and  the  different  handicrafts,  are 
taught  and  followed  for  the  support  of  the  reformatory.  In  the 
crowded  communities  of  the  old  country,  it  is  much  more  diffi 
cult  to  find  positions  for  untrained  children ;  therefore  more  must 
be  done  for  them  before  they  can  be  sent  forth  in  a  condition  to 
earn  an  honest  living.  With  us  demand  for  labor,  even  un 
skilled,  presses  closely  upon  supply.  With  a  fair  rudimental 
education,  long  enough  training  in  regular  labor  for  the  habit 
of  industry  to  be  somewhat  formed,  and  with  a  good  moral  pur 
pose  developed,  the  children  in  our  communities  may  be  safely 
intrusted  to  the  farmers  and  mechanics  that  stand  ready  to  re 
ceive  them.  Especially  may  this  be  safely  done  where  the  in 
stitution  exercises  a  supervision  over  its  indentured  subjects, 
and  has  room  and  facilities  for  receiving  them  again,  when  it  is 
discovered  that  they  have  been  sent  out  prematurely.  In  in 
stances  where  boys  or  girls  prove  somewhat  intractable,  a  long 
period  in  the  institution  will  rarely  cure  the  difficulty.  Evil 
tempers  and  habits  become  confirmed,  and  the  child  settles  down 
into  a  sullen  despair  of  improvement.  When  such  a  child  has 
been  returned  from  a  family,  after  a  short  period  of  discipline, 
another  trial,  in  a  family  of  a  different  class,  should  be  afforded ; 
and  the  child  will  thus  have  a  new  opportunity  to  commence 
life  under  encouraging  circumstances.  Repeatedly,  in  our  ex 
perience,  the  experiment  has  proved  safe  and  successful. 

In  an  institution  of  an  adjoining  city,  serious  charges  were 
brought  against  the  superintendent — a  man  that  had  borne  an 
unblemished  reputation — by  a  combination  of  girls  that  had 


256     A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Single  Family  the  best  Residence. 

been  connected  with  it.  Whatever  grounds  any  one  had  to  be 
lieve  that  there  was  the  slightest  foundation  to  the  story,  all 
were  convinced  that  it  was  wickedly  exaggerated,  and,  in  all 
essentials,  totally  untrue.  These  girls  had  been  connected  with 
the  institution,  some  of  them  for  seven  years,  and  they  had  been 
treated  as  the  daughters  of  the  family,  receiving  the  evening  kiss 
from  the  house  father  and  mother  when  they  retired  for  the  night. 

It  is  not  a  natural  condition  of  things  at  the  best ;  and  even 
the  family  system,  so  called,  is,  after  all,  a  "  make-believe  "- 
family,  differing  from  the  congregate  only  in  the  limited  num 
bers  gathered  together.  If  the  introduction  of  a  step-father  or 
mother  into  a  family  circle  so  often  breaks  its  power  of  love 
over  a  child,  we  can  readily  see  how  almost  impossible  it  is,  by 
any  artificial  arrangement,  exactly  to  renew  the  natural  relation. 
Institution-life  of  every  description  should  be  as  limited  as  it 
can  be  consistently  with  the  results  it  seeks  to  accomplish,  and 
then  the  children  should  be  sent  forth  singly  into  the  best  homes 
that  can  be  obtained  for  them. 

We  do  not  wish  to  make  institution-life  so  desirable,  that  it 
should  be  preferred  to  an  ordinary  Christian  home.  We  are 
chagrined  when  a  child  from  a  decent  home,  where  the  work  is 
not  too  severe,  and  common  affection  and  sympathy  are  shown, 
comes  crying  back  to  the  shelter  of  the  Refuge,  complaining  of 
his  fare  and  his  labor;  but  proud,  when,  having  wrought 
bravely  and  well,  the  boys,  after  their  first  personal  successes, 
come,  with  glowing  faces,  to  tell  us  what  they  have  accom 
plished,  and  to  receive,  what  they  so  eagerly  expect,  our  hearty 
commendations.  As  Daniel  Webster  said  of  New  Hampshire, 
the  House  of  Refuge  should  be  a  good  place  to  emigrate  from, 
and  a  delightful  place,  afterward,  to  visit. 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IN   REFORMATORIES.         257 

The  extensive  Kcsources  of  a  Congregate  House. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  children  filling  our  common  schools, 
we  consider  that  there  are  many  benefits  resulting,  with  some 
serious  but  controllable  evils,  from  their  being  educated  to 
gether  ;  so  when  they  need  to  have  their  moral  faculties  devel 
oped  and  trained,  while  there  are  apparent  perils,  there  is  not 
nearly  as  much  danger  as  is  supposed,  under  proper  supervision, 
in  permitting  this  work  to  go  on  in  companies ;  and  there  are 
some  marked  advantages.  It  is  not  possible  for  the  boys,  in 
such  divisions  as  those  arranged  in  the  New- York  House,  work 
ing,  studying,  playing,  in  the  company  of  mature  and  observing 
persons,  constantly  brought  in  contact  with  the  strongest  moral 
forces,  to  have  such  an  influence  for  evil  upon  one  another  as  the 
children  of  decent  families,  spending  their  days  between  the 
school  and  the  street ;  for  how  powerless  for  good,  in  most  in 
stances,  are  the  average  homes  in  which  city  children  live ! 

The  positive  advantages  of  a  large  reformatory  in  a  dense 
community  may  be  thus  set  forth : 

I.  It  is  in  a  condition,  from  its  extensive  resources — sanitary, 
educational,  industrial,  and  moral — to  receive  a  large  number,  at 
any  given  time,  within  its  halls,  so  that  a  great  diminution  of 
juvenile  crime  and  evil  influence  may  be  secured  in  the  vicinity. 
It  allows  of  a  better  classification,  just  as  large  grammar-schools 
have  this  advantage  over  small.  From  its  organization  and  the 
incident  demand  of  its  numbers  it  must  have  better  discipline, 
as  a  public  school  has  the  advantage  in  this  respect  over  a  small 
private  academy ;  and  strenuous  discipline,  and  an  idea  of  the 
sanctity  of  law,  are  the  peculiar  necessities  of  these  children. 
It  admits  of  an  earlier  distribution  of  its  inmates ;  because  if 
the  experiment  of  their  discharge  prove  unsuccessful,  it  has  room 

enough  to  receive  them  again.     This  is  a  felt  evil  in  small  estab- 
17 


258      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 


Can  secure  the  best  Talents  in  every  Position. 


lishments.  Their  rooms  are  generally  filled,  and  they  have  no 
reserved  resources  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  returned  children ; 
besides,  they  are  much  more  embarrassed,  in  limited  families,  by 
the  influence  of  a  returned  child  over  the  other  inmates. 

The  object  of  a  Reformatory  is  not  to  send  forth  a  class  of 
highly-educated  and  polished  young  persons,  but  to  raise  up  out 
of  the  dust  hundreds  now  festering  in  sinful  homes  and  vicious 
societies ;  to  hold  them  near  the  truth  until  their  minds  shall  be 
impressed  with  it ;  to  teach  them  the  use  of  the  personal  imple 
ments  with  which,  in  most  cases  in  the  humblest  walks  of  life, 
they  will  secure  an  honest  living ;  and  then  give  them  a  fair 
start,  with  hard  labor  and  an  honest  purpose,  to  create  for  them 
selves  a  comfortable  home.  The  congregate  system,  near  large 
cities,  with  the  wide  facilities  of  our  new  and  vast  country,  pre 
sents  an  opportunity  for  doing  this  work,  with  much  promise  of 
success,  on  a  large  scale. 

II.  It  was  well  remarked,  in  the  very  able  report  of  the  Mas 
sachusetts  State  Board  of  Charities  for  1865,  that  few  persons 
have  the  reformatory  power — that  strong,  magnetic,  spiritual 
power  of  awakening,  with  the  Divine  blessing,  the  latent  man 
hood  and  the  latent  conscience  in  a  boy's  heart.  When  such  a 
person  is  found,  it  is  therefore  the  more  desirable  to  give  him  a 
wide  field.  Numbers  do  not  necessarily  destroy  this  power. 
Sheridan  had  that  same  magical  influence  over  a  division  that 
was  apparent  when  he  commanded  a  brigade.  Indeed,  these 
magnetic  men  multiply  their  power  by  the  numbers  they  touch. 
Is  the  influence  of  the  great  preacher  of  Brooklyn  weakened, 
because  more  than  three  thousand  constantly  hang  upon  his 
lips  ?  But  these  reformatory  minds  are  not  always  either  ex 
ecutive  or  economical.  We  know  a  superintendent  who  has 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IN   REFORMATORIES.        259 

Arrange  Systematic  Labor. 

this  marvellous  power  over  children,  but  is  not  blessed  with  the 
ability  to  arrange  details  and  organize  the  discipline  and  econ 
omy  of  his  institution.  It  was  happily  said  of  it,  by  one  who 
had  been  connected  with  both,  that  his  Refuge  was  more  like  a 
newsboys'  lodgings  than  any  thing  else.  In  a  large  institution 
you  can  secure  both  descriptions  of  ability  and  the  highest  order 
of  them.  You  may  make  mistakes  in  your  men,  but  you  com 
mand  the  resources  to  obtain  the  right  persons  when  they  prov* 
identially  appear — the  clear-headed,  executive  business  mind, 
and  the  nervous,  impulsive,  warm-hearted,  generous  moral  in 
structor  and  cure  of  souls. 

Now,  neither  trees  and  flowers,  nor  working  in  the  earth, 
nor  collecting  a  few  children  together  in  a  pleasant  home,  nor 
singing  and  playing,  will  reform  these  boys.  Neither  walls  nor 
barless  windows  can  do  this.  It  is  that  sanctified  power  with 
which  God  endows  His  chosen  instruments  that  awakens  the 
inward  being,  that  enthrones  conscience  above  the  passions,  and 
suffuses  the  whole  nature  with  the  love  of  its  Saviour,  that  rad 
ically  reforms.  There  is  no  power  on  earth  so  much  to  be 
coveted  as  this.  Some  have  it  in  a  large  measure.  Surround 
them  with  proper  concomitants,  and  then  give  them  a  wide  field 
for  its  exercise.  Large  institutions  have  also  the  power  of 
throwing  this  influence  over  their  indentured  subjects  as  a  shield 
of  defence  against  temptation  and  abuse. 

III.  But  the  great  advantage  of  the  congregate  system  is  the 
opportunity  it  offers  for  systematic  labor.  Almost  without  ex 
ception,  the  best  boys,  so  called,  and  the  worst  that  are  sent  to 
the  Refuge,  are  lazy.  They  have  lived  truant,  vagrant,  and 
vicious  lives.  They  hate  work.  They  take  hold  of  a  hoe  or  a 
spade,  when  they  come,  rather  as  slaves  than  as  free  boys,  as  if 


260      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
These  Lazy  Boys  need  the  Severe  Discipline  of  Work. 

intending  to  show  how  little  work  can  be  done  in  the  longest 
time.  They  are  sluggish  in  school  and  unable  to  render  proper 
attention  to  moral  instruction.  Farm-work  is  not  sharp  enough 
as  a  counter-irritant  in  the  majority  of  these  cases.  It  is  not 
sufficiently  electric.  It  does  not  wake  the  boys  up.  But  the 
shop,  with  its  carefully-adjusted  stints,  with  its  delicate  labors, 
requiring  constant  and  absorbing  attention,  with  its  daily  recur 
ring  duties  always  demanding  faithfulness,  has  an  amazing 
power  over  their  minds.  The  first  work  with  a  child  of  a  feeble 
mind  is  to  catch  and  hold  the  attention ;  w^hen  this  is  done,  the 
rest  of  the  work  is  comparatively  easy.  The  well-organized 
shop  never  fails  in  this,  and  for  this  reason  the  boy  is  strangely 
transformed  by  its  power.  He  grooves  down  into  a  habit  of 
labor.  It  becomes  a  sort  of  necessity  to  him.  He  finds  that 
workmen  in  the  business  he  is  learning  are  receiving  from  twelve 
to  twenty  dollars  a  week.  It  awakens  his  ambition :  and  this 
great  defence  against  stealing — the  ability  to  command  a  mod 
erate  salary  by  labor — is  thrown  around  him. 

Other  things  being  equal,  the  country  is  the  best  place  for 
these  children,  but  the  centripetal  force  drawing  many  of  the 
city  boys  back  into  its  streets  is  almost  irresistible.  Farm-life  is 
too  slow  for  them.  Having  developed  in  some  measure  their 
manual  skill,  if  now  a  good  trade,  or  a  good  place  of  labor,  and 
a  comfortable  arrangement  for  board,  can  be  secured  in  the  city, 
the  probabilities  of  a  successful  and  virtuous  life  are  greatly  in 
creased.  In  many  instances  there  are  relatives  requiring  the 
assistance  of  the  boy,  and  a  touching  appeal  is  made  for  his  ser 
vices.  The  boy's  own  affections  and  sense  of  obligation  have 
been  awakened.  Having  lived  cleanly  and  comfortable  for  a 
year  or  more,  he  must  continue  to  do  so.  A  room  is  found  for 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IN  REFORMATORIES         261 

Effect  of  this  System  of  Labor. 

the  old  mother  or  little  group  of  sisters,  and  the  boy  goes  bravely 
to  work  to  support  them. 

A  mature  boy  had  a  brother  and  two  sisters  in  the  Refuge. 
He  gave  but  little  promise  when  he  came.  The  whole  family 
was  probably  in  the  habit  of  stealing.  His  mother  was  nearly 
blind,  and  their  quarters — one  room,  six  by  eight,  with  a  slant 
ing  roof,  near  the  Five  Points — was  as  wretched  as  words  can 
paint.  He  learned  with  us  to  labor,  to  be  honest,  and  to  pray. 
His  bad  eyes  prevented  his  enlisting  in  the  army.  He  objected 
to  going  into  the  country,  because  he  clung  to  his  old,  blind 
mother,  and  to  his  brother  and  sisters.  We  arranged  with  a 
friend  to  secure  a  comfortable  room  for  him,  and  a  place  of  labor. 
He  is  now  sustaining  comfortably  his  mother  and  one  sister. 
He  has  set  his  brother  to  work  in  a  good  position,  while  he 
boards  him,  and  is  arranging  to  have  his  other  sister  by  the  4th 
of  July. 

As  of  faith,  we  may  say,  "all  things  are  possible  to  him 
that"  worketh.  Omnia  vincet  labor.  If  you  give  these  boys 
simply  a  higher  form  of  education,  you  have  only  increased 
their  ability  to  injure  themselves  and  the  community;  but  if 
you  break  up  that  terrible  habit  of  indolence,  of  lazy  lounging, 
start  into  life  the  sluggish  blood  in  their  veins,  and  turn  the  face 
and  heart  toward  the  heavenly  Father  in  prayer,  you  have  sur 
rounded  them  with  the  best  defences  against  temptation. 

If  there  is  any  love  of  learning  in  a  boy,  he  will  find  or  make 
opportunities  for  its  cultivation.  "What  more  does  a  man 
need,"  said  young  Stone  to  the  son  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  ac 
counting  for  his  power  to  read  the  Mechanique  Celeste,  "  than  a 
knowledge  of  the  alphabet  ?  "  And  if  a  boy  has  no  inward  ap 
petite  for  it,  you  cannot  crane  him  up  above  a  moderate  standard, 


262      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Its  Relation  to  certain  Vicious  Habits. 

with  all  your  endeavor.  How  many  boys,  sons  of  lawyers,  of 
ministers,  of  tender  mothers,  who  had  been  living  loafing  and 
criminal  lives,  have  borne  testimony  to  the  reforming  power  of 
this  hard,  constant  work !  It  was  their  first  introduction  to 
honest  labor,  and,  in  entertaining  the  stranger,  they  have  enter 
tained  an  angel  unawares. 

There  are  certain  ruinous  habits  that  prey  like  wolves  upon 
this  class  of  children,  and  that  yield  to  no  treatment  so  soon  as 
to  regular  and  hard  work,  in  connection  with  moral  and  re 
ligious  instruction.  Hard  labor  subdues  the  appetites,  and 
makes  sleep  welcome  in  the  instant  that  the  weary  body  touches 
the  bed,  and  sweet  also,  until  the  bell  for  refreshments  and  labor 
arouses  the  slumberer  in  the  morning. 

There  would  seem  to  be  a  serious  objection  suggested  by  this 
line  of  reasoning,  to  the  proposition  to  pay  families  a  considera 
tion  for  assuming  the  custody  of  children  requiring  discipline, 
as  proposed  in  the  report  of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Char 
ities.  It  is  vital  for  the  future  well-being  of  the  youth,  that  the 
habit  of  industry  should  be  formed.  Whatever  pleasant  tem 
pers  may  be  developed,  the  child's  great  implement  for  success 
and  defence  from  temptation,  outside  of  Divine  influences,  is  a 
love  of  labor,  and,  if  this  is  not  secured,  the  experiment  of  reform 
has  failed. 

If  the  child  works  as  a  servant  in  the  house,  or  a  laborer  out 
of  doors,  the  services  themselves  form  a  large  compensation  for 
the  outlay  and  care  incident  to  its  training,  where  the  period  of 
indentures  extends  through  the  minority.  It  is  important  that 
the  family  should  kindly  exact  a  proper  amount  of  diligence ; 
but  if  the  board  is  paid  or  any  considerable  sum  allotted,  in  ad 
dition  to  the  services  rendered,  with  well-meaning  and  kind- 


THE   CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IX    REFORMATORIES.         263 

Effect  of  paying  a  Child's  Board. 

tempered  parties  this  will  be  likely  to  prove  a  temptation  to  an 
indulgent  indifference  as  to  tlie  amount  of  labor  performed.  It 
will  also  be  impossible  to  keep  the  child  from  learning1  the  fact 
that,  in  addition  to  his  work,  the  State  will  pay  his  employer  a 
sum  for  his  care.  There  are  always  "  disinterested  "  parties  in 
every  community  that  will  feel  called  upon  to  inform  the  child 
of  this  fact,  and  it  will  be  readily  seen  how  his  ambition  will  be 
quenched  by  such  an  intimation  as  this,  and  his  sense  of  injus 
tice  be  kindled  by  it. 

A  little  fellow,  under  the  direction  of  the  writer,  was  placed 
in  a  most  excellent  farmer's  family.  His  health  and  habits  re 
quired  that  he  should  be  put  to  vigorous  manual  labor.  His 
own  impression  was,  that  he  was  earning  his  board  by  the  sweat 
of  his  brow.  A  wealthy  relative  of  the  family  died,  and  he  im 
mediately  rebelled  against  work.  There  was  too  much  money 
in  the  family,  he  said,  for  him  to  work  upon  a  farm. 

It  is  better  for  us  all,  young  and  old,  to  feel  that  the  ability 
to  eat  and  the  provision  for  it  depend  upon  faithful  working. 

By  all  means,  we  must  preserve  these  children  from  even  the 
appearance,  of  pauperism.  Although  with  some  considerable 
suffering,  it  is  better  for  them  early  to  feel  that  they  are,  under 
God,  dependent  upon  their  own  resources ;  that  they  must  fight 
down  their  evil  tempers  themselves ;  that  they  must  stand  up 
bravely  under  difficulties,  endure  patiently  all  ordinary  hard 
ships,  and  strike  out  hopefully  for  an  honorable  position,  in  a 
land  \vhere  the  boy  of  the  alms-house  struggles  to  the  palace  of 
the  nation. 

It  will,  from  these  suggestions,  be  seen,  that  a  large  institu 
tion,  with  all  its  liabilities,  having  its  subjects  for  a  year  or 
more  under  perfect  discipline,  day  and  night,  having  regular 


264      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Large  Institution  is  more  like  General  Society. 

hours  of  labor,  having  daily  moral  lessons,  with  prayers  and  the 
Word  of  God,  having  the  Sabbath  sanctified  with  appropriate 
services,  and  the  most  affecting  and  wholesome  addresses  from 
the  wisest  and  best  of  Christian  men  and  women,  must  make  a 
salutary  and  lasting  impression  upon  the  minds  of  its  inmates. 

The  institution  is  less  like  home,  but  more  like  the  society 
into  which  the  boy  is  to  enter.  He  has  learned  the  sanctity  of 
law,  the  necessity  and  beauty  of  obedience,  and  the  conse 
quences  of  disobedience.  He  goes  forth  into  a  greater  institu 
tion,  where  law  constantly  meets  him,  and  will  impress  him  as 
it  never  did  before.  Both  habit  and  conscience  will  be  his 
keepers,  and  there  is  great  reason  to  hope  that  he  will  become 
"  a  law  unto  himself." 

The  discussions  and  correspondence  of  the  conventions 
awakened  much  interest  in  European  institutions  of  reform. 
The  careful,  personal  examination  of  the  more  noted  of  these 
establishments,  however,  while  rich  in  suggestions,  develops 
no  one  model  plan  after  which  it  is  desirable  to  conform  our 
own. 

In  the  comparison  of  existing  institutions  for  the  redemption 
and  reformation  of  exposed  and  criminal  children,  so  far  as  com 
fort,  convenience,  sanitary  appliances,  adaptation  for  the  ends 
sought  after,  and  generousness  of  material  provisions  are  con 
cerned,  we  are  incomparably  in  advance  of  European  reforma 
tories.*  With  a  few  exceptions  in  the  old  countries,  old  edifices, 

*  In  the  August  number  of  the  Reformatory  and  Refuge  Journal,  pub 
lished  in  London,  is  an  account  of  a  "  Social  Meeting  of  Masters  and  Matrons  " 
connected  with  reformatory  and  charitable  institutions  in  that  city.  Among 
other  speakers  on  this  occasion  was  Mr.  C.  D.  Fox,  who  is  an  active  member 
of  the  Ccuncil  of  the  English  Reformatory  and  Refuge  Union.  He  had  just 
returned  from  a  tour  in  this  country,  and  "  gave,"  says  the  Report,  "  a  most 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IN  REFORMATORIES.    265 

Character  of  Reformatory  Edifices  in  Europe. 

castles,  hospitals,  vacated  and  dilapidated  schools,  ancient  and 
damp  cottages,  barns  even,  have  been  taken  and  made  barely 
habitable  for  the  occupancy  of  the  children  and  their  officers. 
In  Liefde's  entertaining  sketches  of  some  of  the  most  successful 
establishments  in  Germany,  Prussia,  Holland,  and  France,  only 
one  or  two  are  described  as  occupying  buildings  originally 
erected  for  the  purpose  to  which  they  are  now  devoted,  or  with 
out  serious  inconveniences  arising  from  this  cause.  In  the 
general  cleanliness  and  wholesomeness  of  buildings,  dress,  and 
person,  both  American  and  English  visitors  render  us  in  the 
United  States  the  palm.  In  classification  and  variety  of  organi 
zation,  missions  for  the  virtuous  poor,  missions  among  the  aban 
doned,  truant  homes,  orphan  homes,  refuges  for  criminal  chil 
dren,  and  charities  for  all  forms  of  want  and  suffering — in  all 
these  respects  there  seems  to  be  little  for  us  to  learn  from  our 
brothers  in  Christian  labor  over  the  water ;  but  we  are  able  to 

interesting  account  of  his  visit  to  the  Reformatory  institutions  of  the  United 
States.  Speaking  first  of  their  peculiarities,  he  referred  to  the  almost  total 
absence  of  corporal  punishment.  Emulation  was  their  chief  instrument  of 
discipline.  They  carried  on  a  great  work  among  children,  combining  care 
for  their  spiritual  welfare  with  active  exertion  for  their  bodily  and  mental 
wants.  Their  use  of  photographs,  music,  and  flowers  was  quite  unknown  in 
England ;  while  their  thoughtfulness  for  the  comfort  of  their  little  charges 
was  most  striking,  and  was  seen  in  the  arm-chair,  separate  desks,  and  covered 
play-grounds  provided  in  most  of  the  institutions.  As  a  consequence  of  this 
treatment  another  peculiarity  way,  the  great  love  between  each  child  and  the 
Superintendent ;  whenever  he  appeared  among  them  they  ran  to  him,  and 
were  to  be  seen  clinging  round  him  as  if  he  were  in  truth  their  father.  The 
system  of  adoption  into  families  in  the  far  West  was  also  a  peculiarity  unlike 
any  thing  attempted  in  England ;  a  most  extensive  correspondence  was  main 
tained  with  all  who  had  been  thus  provided  for.  Mr.  Fox  then  described  the 
work  being  accomplished  by  the  Five  Points  House  of  Industry,  the  Five 
Points  Mission,  the  Howard  Mission  and  Home  for  Little  Wanderers,  the 
Children's  Aid  Society,  and  the  House  of  Refuge." 


266       A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

No  one  Form  of  Organization  prevails  in  Europe. 

direct  their  grateful  attention  to,  many  things  which  excite  their 
commendation  and  imitation.  In  opportunities  for  the  educa 
tion  of  the  poorest,  for  the  elevation  of  the  humblest,  for  securing 
every  variety  of  form  of  labor  with  the  highest  compensation 
paid  for  it,  and  for  obtaining  at  the  smallest  price  the  richest 
land,  our  new  and  democratic  country  affords  unequalled  facili 
ties.  There  is  no  difficulty  in  finding  a  place  for  honest  and 
remunerative  labor  for  every  active  child  in  the  land. 

European  institutions  retain  the  children  for  a  much  longer 
period  than  the  average  of  American  reformatories,  four  years 
for  boys  and  five  for  girls  being  considered  the  ordinary  term, 
while  two  years  is  a  high  average  with  us.  The  capacity  of  an 
institution  for  relieving  a  given  vicinity  of  its  exposed  children 
is  thus  greatly  diminished. 

There  is  no  one  form  of  organization  and  discipline  in  foreign 
institutions  that  is  of  itself  so  especially  effective  as  to  render  it 
indispensable  to  the  highest  order  of  success.  It  is  the  magnetic 
power  of  the  man  that  has  secured  the  efficiency  of  the  more 
noted  reformatory  establishments  of  Europe.  There  is  not  a 
finer  institution  for  orphans  in  the  world  than  Miiller's,  in  Bris 
tol,  England,  where  he  has  congregated  nearly  two  thousand 
children  in  half  a  dozen  immense  stone  buildings.  The  well- 
known  intelligent  correspondent  of  the  Boston  Journal  per 
sonally  examined  it,  and  says  of  Miiller :  "  He  is  a  man  of  great 
executive  ability,  and  is  the  sole  manager  of  this  immense  con 
cern.  I  have  been  all  over  his  establishment.  It  would  do 
credit  to  any  government  on  the  face  of  the  earth."  It  was  not 
the  family  system,  but  Wichern  and  his  beloved  mother,  that 
melted  and,  with  the  Divine  blessing,  recast  the  lives  of  the 
wretched  little  outcasts  that  kneeled  under  his  thatched  roof. 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IN   REFORMATORIES.         2G7 
The  Magnetic  Power  of  the  Individual. 

The  institutions  grew  up  around  the  men,  and  were  informed  to 
their  utmost  limits  by  the  pervading  spirit  of  their  founders. 
They  were  men  of  extraordinary  enthusiasm,  piety,  and  perse 
verance.  No  obstacles  were  insurmountable  to  prayer  and  faith. 
In  large  uncouth  buildings  at  Diisselthal,  Christian  Friedrich 
Georgi  and  his  devoted  wife  made  every  member  of  their  great 
communities  feel  that  they  were  then:  loving  parents,  and  in 
spired  all  their  assistants  with  their  own  hallowed  spirit.  Boys 
and  girls  were  brought  under  the  same  control ;  the  girls  sepa 
rated  by  a  wall,  being  gathered  in  five  large  families,  living  in  a 
long  two-story  brick  block.  In  the  midst  of  a  barren  waste,  re 
covered  to  tillage  and  beauty,  near  Hemmen,  in  Holland,  Pastor 
O.  G.  Heldring  has,  in  the  exercise  of  marvellous  faith  and  per 
sistency,  established  three  large  congregated  and  eminently  suc 
cessful  institutions,  one  for  Magdalens,  one  for  young  exposed 
girls,  and  one  for  girls  over  sixteen,  that  would,  without  the  shel 
tering  arms  of  this  Bethel,  as  it  is  significantly  termed,  be  sent 
to  prison  and  to  inevitable  ruin.  It  is  the  devoted  Mr.  Martin 
and  his  wife  (of  whom  he  touchingly  said  to  a  visitor,  "  Without 
my  wife,  sir,  I  should  not  have  known  many  a  time  how  to  pro 
ceed  ;  when  a  child  is  put  into  a  cell  for  punishment,  she  goes 
there  and  talks  with  it,  and  God  has  blessed  her  words  to  the 
heart  of  many  a  one ;  really  she  can  manage  the  boys  better  than 
any  of  us"),  that  have  overcome  the  inconveniences  of  the 
badly-constructed  congregate  edifices  of  the  Protestant  Agricul 
tural  Colony  at  Sainte  Foy,  in  the  south  of  France,  and  made  it 
to  be  a  home  of  redemption  for  many  young  criminals.  Indeed, 
every  successful  institution  of  reform  in  the  world  will  be  found 
to  be  an  illustration  of  the  truth  that  it  is  the  man  and  not  the 
system  that  has  secured,  with  the  Divine  blessing,  the  encour- 


268       A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

High  Character  of  Subordinates  in  European  Schools. 

aging  results  in  the  delicate  work  of  human  reformation.  The 
presence  or  absence  of  Mr.  Pillsbury  from  the  Albany  Peniten 
tiary  has  been  the  criterion  of  success  or  failure  at  that  institu 
tion. 

But  the  fact  should  not  be  overlooked,  that  in  these  Euro 
pean  establishments  it  is  not  the  head  of  them  alone  by  whom 
this  great  work  is  accomplished.  In  nearly  every  instance  upon 
the  Continent  the  first  object  of  one  proposing  to  inaugurate  an 
asylum  or  school  of  reform  has  been  to  gather  to  his  aid  a  body 
of  devoted  young  persons  of  both  sexes  to  become  his  assistants. 
They  must  all  drink  in  his  spirit,  and  cooperate  in  his  move 
ments.  All  the  instructors  in  school,  the  foremen  in  the  work 
shops,  the  assistants  upon  the  farm,  are  devoted  Christian  disci 
ples.  These  persons  are  drawn  to  these  institutions  in  numbers 
much  larger  than  the  proportion  of  officers  in  our  establishments. 
They  receive  no  salary  save  their  livelihood  and  the  training 
they  secure  in  conducting  the  discipline  of  the  institution,  and 
thus  fitting  themselves  for  the  superintendency  of  similar  estab 
lishments  when  hereafter  called  to  them.  Christian  women,  as 
in  that  wonderful  collection  of  institutions  which  have  grown  up 
around  the  Deaconess  House  at  Kaiserworth  in  Prussia,  through 
the  earnest  ministry  of  Pastor  Fliedner  and  his  excellent  wife, 
have  devoted  themselves  without  remuneration  to  years  of  faith 
ful  service,  to  learn  the  most  efficient  modes  of  exercising  the 
womanly  duties  of  nurse  of  the  sick,  and  teacher  and  reformer 
of  the  abandoned  of  their  own  sex  and  of  orphan  and  criminal 
children. 

One  cannot  fail  to  see  the  influence  of  such  a  class  of  persons 
in  the  work  of  reform.  If,  instead  of  having  officers  filling  their 
positions  simply  for  hire,  subject  to  constant  changes,  and  being 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IN   REFORMATORIES.         269 
Call  for  a  Superior  Class  of  Laborers  in  this  Field. 

compelled,  on  account  of  the  high  rate  of  compensation  with  us, 
to  employ  in  the  workshops  and  upon  the  farm  persons  of  infe 
rior  talent,  and  of  a  lower  moral  grade,  the  Superintendent  could 
be  supported  in  every  position  by  a  large  force  of  trained  and 
somewhat  cultivated  and  always  devoted  persons,  constantly 
seeking  the  one  great  end  of  the  institution,  what  an  overwhelm 
ing  moral  influence  could  thus  be  secured !  This  is  one  of  the 
pressing  demands  in  houses  of  reform  at  the  present  hour  in  this 
country. 

In  our  city,  in  the  conduct  of  several  of  the  charities  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  such  as  the  "  Sheltering  Arms," 
and  the  "  St.  Barnabas  Society,"  a  number  of  devoted,  intelli 
gent  Christian  women,  as  we  have  seen  in  a  previous  page,  have 
thus,  for  a  limited  period  of  years,  offered  their  time  and  talents 
to  Christ  and  to  the  necessities  of  those  for  whom  He  died,  and  are 
engaged  in  the  offices  incident  to  the  rescue  of  the  fallen,  and 
the  care  of  periled  childhood,  without  pecuniary  compensation. 

In  institutions  supported  by  municipalities  or  by  the  State, 
it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  persons  will  offer  gratuitous  service. 
Nearly  every  European  institution  of  reform  out  of  England  is 
sustained  by  voluntary  contributions,  and  grows  out  of  the  home- 
missionary  operations  of  the  churches.  It  is  to  small  institutions 
thus  originated  in  this  country,  that  we  may  look  for  exhibitions 
of  Christian  sacrifice,  and  for  models  of  Christian  training  and 
success.  Certainly  this  is  a  legitimate  field  for  the  charity  and 
piety  of  the  churches,  to  gather  up  and  save  the  youthful  slaves 
of  appetite  and  vicious  habits.  But  while  Christian  people  are 
slowly  awakening  to  their  duty  and  opportunity,  the  State,  for 
its  own  defence,  must  step  in,  with  a  strong  hand,  and  the 
broadest  provisions,  and  gather  into  the  readiest  and  most  prac- 


270      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Farm  Discipline  not  always  to  be  preferred. 

ticable  institutions  for  moral  and  religious  discipline,  the  tempted 
juvenile  population  of  the  streets.  These  children  have  not  a 
claim  upon  us  simply  because  they  are  human,  and  are  to  be  the 
companions  of  our  own  children,  but  because  they  are  to  be  our 
rulers.  The  poor  and  criminal  streets  of  our  cities  govern,  by 
their  votes,  the  residents  upon  the  parks  and  avenues. 

The  fact  that  these  European  institutions  have,  the  most  of 
them,  been  located  at  some  distance  from  large  cities,  and  have 
secured  facilities  for  garden  and  farm  labor,  has  not,  of  itself, 
been  so  striking  an  element  of  success,  or  induced  such  a  taste 
for  agricultural  life  as  one  might  at  first  view  suppose. 

In  the  agricultural  colony  at  Mettray,  where  the  inmates  are 
chiefly  employed  upon  a  farm,  of  eight  hundred  and  fifty-six 
inmates,  two  hundred  and  twenty-three  entered  the  army,  and  a 
large  number  went  to  mechanical  trades,  and  followed  the  sea. 
At  the  beautiful  Netherland  Mettray,  near  Zutphen,  in  one  of 
the  charming  districts  of  Guelderland,  where  every  effort  was 
used  to  train  city  boys  to  become  farmers,  nearly  fifty  per  cent, 
of  the  inmates  were  found  to  have  an  unconquerable  aversion  to 
farm-labor,  and  the  managers  found  it  necessary  to  introduce 
various  handicrafts  to  prepare  the  inmates  for  such  positions 
as  their  natural  tastes  rendered  most  inviting,  and  gave  the 
best  promise  of  their  following  in  subsequent  life.  The  diffi 
culty  is  even  more  serious  with  us ;  other  forms  of  labor  than 
farm-wTork  offer  so  much  larger  pecuniary  compensation,  and  ap 
parently  afford  so  much  more  favorable  opportunities  of  reaching 
a  competence,  in  addition  to  the  inherent  longing  of  a  city  boy 
for  the  excitement  of  the  town,  that  it  is  quite  impossible  to  in 
duce  the  more  enterprising  to  remain  for  any  time  amid  the 
quiet,  monotonous,  and  slow  pursuits  of  the  country.  Our  only 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IN  REFORMATORIES.    271 

Religion  the  great  Reforming  Agent. 

hope  of  securing  in  their  behalf  a  life  of  honest  industry  is  to 
place  them,  with  proper  training,  and  under  wholesome  super 
vision,  in  some  trade  within  the  city  limits,  or  to  find  for  them  a 
good  opportunity  on  shipboard.  If  we  attempt  to  force  nature, 
and  place  them  even  in  the  most  distant  West,  under  indentures 
to  farmers,  they  soon  steal  away,  and  hasten  back  to  the  city, 
where,  finding  themselves  without  regular  employment,  they  be 
come  a  ready  prey  to  the  street  prowlers,  and  fall  again  into 
habits  of  crime. 

There  are  two  things  that  strike  the  mind  forcibly  in  the 
conduct  of  the  work  of  reform  in  Europe.  The  first  is,  the 
prominence  that  is  given  to  religious  instruction,  and  the  reliance 
upon  it  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  great  end  sought  in  all 
reformatory  efforts.  M.  De  Tocqueville,  who  was  one  of  the 
most  hearty  co-laborers  with  De  Metz,  says,  with  much  empha 
sis,  "  No  human  power  is  comparable  to  religion  for  reforming 
criminals;  upon  it  especially  the  future  result  of  penitentiary 
reform  depends."  Another  thoughtful  European  writer  has 
admirably  said,  "  Without  religion  prisons  may  be  reformed- 
prisoners  never  can."  The  successful  superintendents  of  the 
most  noted  juvenile  institutions  are  men  of  astonishing  faith,  like 
John  Falk,  Miiller,  Wichern,  Fliedner,  Zeller,  Fingado  of  the 
orphan-house  in  Baden,  the  simple-hearted,  sainted  haberdasher, 
whose  motto  was,  "  As  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the 
Lord,"  the  Dutch  pastor  Heldring,  the  French  Martin  and  Bost, 
and  hundreds  of  others,  "  whose  names  are  written  in  the  book 
of  life,"  and  also  upon  the  grateful  hearts  of  thousands  of  re 
deemed  children.  They  are  men  of  like  infirmities  with  others, 
but  also,  like  Elijah,  powerful  in  prayer,  and  like  St.  John,  of  a 
loving,  gentle,  and  heavenly  temper.  The  whole  discipline  of 


272      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Religious  Men  must  be  employed. 

these  institutions  is  pervaded  with  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  and 
a  large  portion  of  the  instruction  given  is  devoted  to  the  study 
of  the  Scriptures. 

In  England,  as  also  with  us,  one  of  the  most  serious  obsta 
cles  in  the  way  of  breaking  up  institutions  into  separate  families, 
has  been  the  difficulty  of  securing  the  right  kind  of  men  and 
women  to  place  at  the  head  of  the  several  houses.  Rev.  Sydney 
Turner,  now  inspector  of  reformatories  in  England,  formerly 
superintendent  and  chaplain  of  Red  Hill  Philanthropic  Farm 
School,  in  Surrey,  says :  "  For  these  positions,  you  want  a  re 
ligious  man ;  I  mean  a  man  who  takes  up  his  work  as  a  mission ; 
something  given  him  to  do  by  God ;  something  in  which  he  is 
responsible,  not  only  for  the  means  he  uses,  or  the  methods  he 
pursues,  but  for  the  results  he  attains  to.  Such  a  man  views  his 
work  as  one  which  he  cannot,  dare  not,  leave  just  to  get  more 
salary,  more  leisure,  less  worry,  or  less  confinement.  Such  a 
man  conducts  his  work  in  the  spirit  and  by  the  instruments  of 
the  missionary ;  not  only  teaching,  but  praying ;  not  only  ad 
monishing  and  advising,  but  giving  the  daily  example  of 
patience,  kindness,  industry,  endurance,  and  devotion  in  his  per 
sonal  life.  Before  such  men  the  stubborn  tempers  bend,  the 
hard  hearts  soften,  the  idols  of  vice  and  crime  are  cast  down. 
They  need  not  be  men  of  extraordinary  talent,  but  they  must 
be  men  of  earnestness,  love,  and  a  sound  mind." 

The  other  noticeable  fact  is,  the  elevated  social  position  of 
the  persons  interested  in  the  discussion  of  questions  of  reform  in 
Europe,  and  in  the  conduct  of  the  institutions  that  have  already 
been  established. 

The  first  legal  minds  of  France  have  devoted  their  time 
without  hesitation,  and  their  best  thoughts,  to  the  consideration 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IN   REFORMATORIES.        273 
Best  Minds  of  Europe  interested  in  these  Questions. 

of  the  question  of  adult  and  juvenile  reformation.  The  pre 
siding  manager  of  Mettray  was  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Assize, 
at  Paris,  and  was  first  employed  by  the  French  Government  to 
visit  and  report  upon  the  prisons  of  the  United  States.  De 
Tocqueville  had  preceded  him  in  this  work,  and  heartily  united 
with  him  in  his  great  experiment  at  Mettray.  The  Empress 
Eugenie  has  made  herself  a  voluntary  prison  and  reformatory  in 
spector.  Her  hand  upon  the  shoulder  of  a  boy  would  not  cure 
him  of  the  king's  evil,  as  was  formerly  believed,  but  it  did  some 
thing  better  for  one — it  melted  his  heart.  The  large  sums  of 
money  bestowed  upon  the  French  queen  by  the  city  of  Paris, 
at  the  time  of  her  marriage  with  the  emperor,  for  the  purchase 
of  a  diamond  necklace,  and  again,  upon  the  birth  of  the  prince 
imperial,  were  devoted  by  the  benevolent  empress  to  the  con 
struction  of  a  magnificent  suite  of  buildings,  with  beautiful 
grounds,  for  orphan  institutions  for  boys  and  girls,  in  Paris. 
Here,  once  a  fortnight,  she  obtains  a  few  hours  of  the  purest 
enjoyment  of  her  life,  in  visiting  these  joyful  little  pensioners 
upon  her  bounty.  Has  any  court  upon  earth  a  fairer  or  more 
attractive  set  of  crown  jewels  than  these  ?  Long  before  Wichern 
opened  his  thatched  cottage  at  the  Horn,  Count  von  Der  Recke 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  orphan  and  reformatory  institutions  at 
Dlisselthal,  and  presided  over  them  until  it  pleased  God  to  raise 
up  Mr.  Georgi  to  catch  his  mantle  as  he  ascended  to  the  skies. 
King  "William  III.  and  the  Queen-dowager  of  Holland  were  large 
subscribers  to,  and  personally  interested  in,  the  establishment  of 
the  Netherland  Mettray.  The  lamented  Prince  Albert,  of  Eng 
land,  was  greatly  interested  in  the  reformatory  movements  of 
that  country,  and  at  the  head  of  several  organizations.  He  laid 

the  corner-stone  of  the  Agricultural  Colony,  at  Red  Hill,  under 

18 


274      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Interest  of  Higher  Classes  in  Great  Britain. 

the  auspices  of  the  Philanthropic  Society.  The  first  legal  talent 
of  Great  Britain,  headed  by  the  late  Lord  Brougham ;  the  most 
conspicuous  among  the  nobility,  like  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury, 
president  of  the  Reformatory  and  Refuge  Union ;  the  highest 
orders  in  the  church,  and  a  numerous  body  of  the  most  intelli 
gent  and  cultivated  men  and  women  in  Great  Britain,  like  Mary 
Carpenter,  one  of  the  most  voluminous  and  thoughtful  writers 
upon  prison  and  juvenile  discipline,  now  engaged  upon  a  great 
public  mission  of  mercy  to  her  sex  in  India,  have  given  personal 
attention  even,  to  the  management  of  local  institutions,  as  well 
as  devoted  their  time  and  pens  to  the  discussion  of  the  funda 
mental  principles  involved  in  the  work  of  reform. 

This  general  interest,  among  educated  and  religious  persons 
of  both  sexes  in  England,  has  been  secured  by  one  feature  in 
the  act  of  Parliament  recognizing  local  reformatories,  by  which, 
where  any  voluntary,  municipal,  or  county  institution  is  accepted 
and  held  subject  to  the  periodic  inspection  of  officers  appointed 
by  the  government,  a  subsidy  of  some  eight  shillings  sterling 
per  week  for  each  inmate  is  allowed.  By  this  means,  if  a  town 
or  county,  or  private  individuals,  secure  the  buildings,  a  large 
part  of  the  current  expenses  of  the  institution  is  paid  by  the 
government.  The  effect  must  be  salutary.  It  multiplies  small 
establishments,  and  secures  the  supervision  and  personal  interest 
of  the  best  philanthropic  and  religious  members  of  the  commu 
nity.  It  awakens  a  deeper  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  im 
periled  young,  and  becomes  a  double  blessing,  in  the  develop 
ment  of  the  zeal  and  charity  of  the  persons  engaged  in  this 
Christlike  work.  "We  must  certainly  have  the  missionary  and 
reformatory  skill  among  us,  although  in  a  large  degree  it  is  now 
latent.  It  only  awaits  the  occasion  to  call  it  forth.  The  labor- 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IN  REFORMATORIES    275 

Some  Measure  for  clearing  our  Streets  required. 

ers,  male  and  female,  in  the  Sanitary  and  Christian  Commissions, 
bear  witness  to  this.  If  the  State,  under  proper  supervision, 
would  allow  a  bare  livelihood  for  the  support  of  the  children 
collected,  and  benevolent  men  and  women  were  made  to  see  at 
how  small  an  additional  outlay  suitable  buildings  could  be 
erected  for  the  care  and  cure  of  juvenile  criminals,  small  institu 
tions  would  spring  up  in  every  direction. 

The  two  great  necessities  in  our  country  at  this  hour  in  the 
matter  of  juvenile  reform  are,  first,  some  thorough,  effectual 
measure  for  clearing  the  streets  of  our  cities  and  large  towns  of 
vagrant,  begging,  and  vicious  children.  Mr.  Oliver  Dyer,  in  a 
report  read  at  a  public  meeting  in  the  city,  from  the  results  of  a 
careful  inspection  made  by  several  sanitary  commissions,  show 
ing  that  about  six  hundred  thousand  persons  are  living  in  tene 
ment-houses,  most  of  them  very  inconveniently  crowded,  or  in 
cellars  and  hovels,  calculates  that,  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  children  included  in  this  number,  forty  thousand  of 
them  are  to  be  considered  "  destitute  and  outcasts,"  and  that  ad 
ditional  provisions  of  some  kind  must  be  made  for  them  to  save 
them  from  a  h'fe  of  pauperism  or  crime.*  We  cannot  but  hope 


*  Of  the  moral  character  of  these  children,  Mr.  Dyer  says  in  his  report : 
"  In  the  greater  portion  of  this  class,  their  surroundings  and  their  training 
have  produced  their  natural  results.  Hundreds  of  them  have  already  be 
come  confirmed  drunkards,  and  thousands  of  them  are  accustomed  to  strong 
drink.  Children,  from  the  age  of  fourteen  years  down  to  infants  of  four,  are 
daily  met  in  a  state  of  intoxication.  They  come  drunk  to  the  mission-schools. 
The  little  creatures  have  many  a  time  lain  stretched  upon  the  benches  of 
this  institution  (Howard  Mission)  sleeping  off  their  debauch. 

"  Hundreds  of  these  children  have  also  become  veteran  thieves,  and 
thousands  more  are  in  training  for  the  same  end.  Nine  hundred  and  sixty 
girls,  and  three  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty-eight  boys,  between  the  ages 
of  ten  and  fifteen  years — making  a  total  of  four  thousand  six  hundred  and 


276      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Never  conquer  Crime  until  the  Children  are  saved. 

that  this  is  an  exaggerated  statement.  At  least  we  are  certain 
that,  even  from  the  squalidness,  ignorance,  and  corruption  of 
their  present  condition,  many,  as  they  grow  older,  will  find  em 
ployment  which  will  awaken  ambition,  and  aid  them  in  strug 
gling  for  a  more  hopeful  fate  in  life.  But  after  making  every 
rational  deduction,  what  an  army  of  exposed  childhood  will  still 
remain ! 

We  shall  never  come  abreast  of  crime,  and  have  a  fair  strug 
gle  with  it,  until  the  community  is  relieved  of  these  immense 
gathering  reservoirs  of  vice.  In  certainly  one  city  in  Scotland, 
Aberdeen,  the  experiment  has  been  successfully  tried  of  clean 
ing  out  the  streets  of  these  children,  gathering  them  into  schools 
or  refuges,  or  securing  for  them  regular  employment,  and  the 
result  upon  the  criminal  statistics  of  the  city  was  truly  won 
derful. 

If  we  understand  the  force  of  a  late  act  of  the  English  Par 
liament,  all  vagrant  and  unemployed  children  can  be  arrested, 
and,  unless  properly  cared  for  by  parents,  can  be  disposed  of  in 
reformatories  and  by  indentures,  or  by  removal  from  the  coun 
try,  as  is  deemed  advisable  by  the  magistrate  before  whom  the 
case  is  brought.  As  the  law,  of  course,  would  not  execute  itself, 
and  no  one  sought  the  self-constituted  and  somewhat  thankless 
task  of  complaining  against  the  children  in  London,  the  Reform- 

eighteen — were  arrested  during  the  year  ending  October  31,  1867,  for  drunk 
enness  and  petty  crimes. 

"No  longer  ago  than  Saturday,  the  llth  day  of  January  last,  a  boy,  thir 
teen  years  old,  was  sent  to  Blackwell's  Island  "  (no  boy  of  that  age  should 
have  been  sent  to  a  penitentiary)  "  as  a  confirmed  drunkard,  and  on  the  next 
morning  (the  Sabbath),  his  little  brother,  named  Jacob  Bullach,  only  ten 
years  of  age,  who  had  also  become  accustomed  to  strong  drink,  in  a  fit  of 
despondency,  occasioned  by  his  brother's  fate,  committed  suicide  at  his 
mother's  residence  in  this  city." 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IN  REFORMATORIES.    277 

Effect  of  Multiplication  of  Street  Trades. 

atory  and  Refuge  Union,  two  years  ago,  appointed  an  officer 
styled  "  the  Boys'  Beadle,"  and  made  it  his  duty  to  approach 
"  all  homeless  children  as  a  friend,  to  sift  their  cases  thoroughly, 
and,  as  their  various  circumstances  required,  to  take  them  to 
friends,  to  a  school  or  refuge,  to  a  magistrate,  or  to  the  police." 
A  report  of  his  efforts,  which  was  read  at  the  late  meeting  of 
the  Social  Science  Association,  held  at  Belfast,  is  both  interest 
ing  and  suggestive.* 

The  multiplication  of  street  trades  during  the  last  ten  or  fif 
teen  years  has  been  of  serious  disadvantage  to  children.  For 
the  pittance  earned  in  the  sale  of  apples  and  nuts,  of  newspapers 
and  matches,  and  in  the  vagrant  labor  of  the  bootblack,  children 
are  kept  from  school,  and  are  also  prevented  from  learning  a 
trade  which  will  hereafter  enable  them  to  support  themselves 
and  those  that  are  dependent  upon  them.  Almost  all  these 
street  pedlars,  both  boys  and  girls,  are  vicious.  A  large  propor 
tion  of  our  city  children  in  the  House  of  Refuge  graduated  here. 

*  The  twelfth  annual  report  of  the  Reformatory  and  Refuge  Union,  for 
1868,  referring  to  this  agency,  remarks :  "  The  effects  of  the  combined  efforts 
of  law  and  charity  are  plainly  evident  in  the  reduced  number  of  Arabs  to  be 
met  with  in  the  streets  of  the  metropolis.  The  boys'  beadle,  whose  duty  it 
is  to  look  after  the  waifs  and  strays,  has,  since  his  appointment,  dealt  with 
upward  of  two  hundred  little  wanderers,  besides  helping  the  teachers  engaged 
in  the  Ragged  Schools  and  Refuges  in  their  self-denying  efforts  for  those 
sometimes  worse  than  homeless The  example  of  the  Union  has  al 
ready  been  followed  by  one  large  town,  Birmingham  now  having  its  '  Chil 
dren's  Visitor,'  whose  duties  are  similar  to  those  of  the  boys'  beadle.  Be 
fore  entering  upon  his  labors,  the  agent  who  has  been  appointed  paid  a  visit 
to  London,  and  gathered  all  the  information  he  could  from  the  experience 
and  advice  of  the  agent  of  the  Union,  accompanying  him  upon  his  rounds, 
and  thus  seeing  for  himself  the  mode  in  which  he  works.  The  Council  can 
not  but  hope  that,  before  long,  each  of  our  great  provincial  towns  will  have 
a  visitor,  whose  special  duty  it  shall  be  to  relieve  the  streets  of  destitute 
children." 


278      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

These  Street-Merchants  the  worst  Criminals. 

They  are  thievish,  early  becoming  burglars,  being  accustomed 
to  the  streets  at  all  hours  of  the  night.  They  attend  the  lowest 
drinking  and  dancing  saloons,  and  theatres,  and  become,  at  a 
precocious  age,  the  martyrs  of  the  most  loathsome  forms  of  vice. 
The  worst  criminals  upon  our  calendars  are  these  young,  hard 
ened  street  venders,  confirmed  in  evil  by  two  or  three  terms  of 
six  months  in  the  penitentiary. 

Until  the  streets  are  cleared  of  these  children  without  visible 
means  of  support,  and  some  wholesome  regulations  established 
in  reference  to  these  young  highway  traders,  so  that  at  a  proper- 
age  they  shall  go  to  some  trade,  and  some  restriction  shall  be 
placed  upon  their  unattended  visits  to  depraving  places  of 
amusement,  and  to  the  haunts  of  vice,  the  community  will  be 
obliged  constantly  to  multiply  its  prisons,  and  watch  thousands 
of  its  population  going  certainly,  and  to  the  injury  and  discom 
fort  of  the  virtuous,  down  the  broad  road  to  ruin. 

Who  is  the  wise  man  to  whom  the  heavenly  Father  has  im 
parted  the  broad,  effectual,  humane  plan  by  which  the  now  pre 
destined  children  of  crime  shall  be  saved  to  the  community,  to 
themselves,  and  to  God  ? 

The  second  want  is  some  place  of  confinement  between  the 
House  of  Refuge  and  the  penitentiary  for  confirmed  young  crim 
inals.  The  prisons  and  jails  contain  hundreds  of  young  men 
between  eighteen  and  twenty  who  are  now  revolving  through 
their  cells  on  short  sentences,  and  at  the  same  time  are  effectually 
trained  to  a  life  of  crime,  and  hardened  to  the  commission  of  the 
most  fearful  acts.  These  young  men  ought  to  be  taken  in  hand 
by  the  community,  to  be  restrained  and  kindly  watched  over, 
and,  solicited  by  religious  culture,  taught  a  trade ;  a  portion  of 
the  proceeds  of  their  labor  secured  to  them  upon  condition  of 


THE  CONGREGATE  SYSTEM  IX  REFORMATORIES.          279 

A  Place  of  Detention  for  mature  Young  Criminals  needed. 

good  behavior ;  a  position  found  for  them  when  apparently  re 
formed;  and  then  they  should  be  discharged  at  first  upon  a 
ticket-of-leave,  which,  if  forfeited  by  crime,  secures  their  return 
to  the  place  of  detention  for  the  work  to  go  on  until  they  are 
reformed.  If  they  have  dependent  friends,  a  portion  of  their 
income  from  their  labor  might  be  paid,  at  their  request,  to  them. 
How  much  better  for  the  community  to  burden  itself  with  the 
expense  incident  to  such  a  course  than  to  be  obliged  to  submit 
to  the  depredations  of  trained  criminals,  and  to  the  loss  of  the 
men  besides !  It  is  simply  shocking  to  enter  some  of  our  county 
prisons  and  look  upon  the  young  men  confined  in  the  cells, 
without  work,  without  hope,  with  nothing  before  them  for  a 
livelihood  but  a  life  of  crime,  without  moral  instruction,  or  in 
structive  and  religious  reading,  whiling  away  their  time  in  mu 
tually  recounting  their  vicious  adventures  and  in  playing  cards. 
We  can  see  all  this,  and  worse,  everywhere  in  our  municipal 
and  county  jails. 

A  place  of  detention  something  of  the  character  indicated 
has  been  established  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  England,  and  is  called 
the  Parkhurst  Prison.  From  it  boys  are  either  transported  to 
Australia  and  indentured  under  the  supervision  of  an  officer,  or 
are  discharged  upon  a  ticket-of-leave  permitting  them  to  remain 
at  large  during  good  behavior,  and  subjecting  them  to  the  sur 
veillance  of  the  police. 

After  the  careful  weighing  of  the  various  theories  of  juvenile 
reform,  the  managers  say  in  their  Forty-second  Annual  Report : 
"  In  the  fulfilment  of  our  duties,  we  are  necessarily  engaged 
upon  that  vexed  problem  which  has  so  long  lain  close  to  the 
heart  of  the  philanthropist,  the  solution  of  which  involves  not 
only  the  welfare  of  its  immediate  subject,  but  largely  also  the 


280      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Managers'  View  of  their  own  System. 

interests  of  society,  as  connected  with  the  best  practicable 
method  of  moral  reformation  to  be  applied  to  the  large  and 
growing  class  of  neglected  and  vicious  youth.  .  .  We  believe 
that  the  foundations  of  our  system  as  a  house  of  reform  rest 
upon  a  solid  basis,  and  we  do  not  consider  that  the  experience 
of  others  offers  any  very  important  improvement ;  that,  within 
the  limited  means  at  our  command,  it  would  be  difficult  to  de 
vise  a  more  judicious  and  effective  method  for  the  peculiar  class 
with  which  we  are  called  to  deal,  and  that  such  has  not  been 
presented  in  any  compact  and  single  plan  by  the  combined 
efforts  of  the  various  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  day,  operat 
ing  in  the  same  field. 

"  We  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  whatever  difficulties  invest  the 
general  subject,  and  partial  as  the  work  of  thorough  reformation 
may  be,  that  this  Board  accomplishes  a  great  and  beneficent 
work.  Not  only  is  society  saved  from  grave  and  immediate  an 
noyance  by  our  custody  over  so  large  a  portion  of  its  delinquent 
youth,  but  from  more  serious  vices  and  crimes  into  which  these 
neglected  and  unhappy  lives  would  be  sure  to  fall  as  their  his 
tory  matured. 

"  But  while  we  are  able  to  speak  thus  confidently  of  the  gen 
eral  tendencies  of  what  we  do  to  improve  the  habits  and  elevate 
the  moral  standard  of  our  charges,  and  while  we  can  trace  its 
happy  effects  in  many  instances,  we  are  not  able  to  convey  fully 
by  any  arithmetical  tables  the  value  of  our  work.  Doubtless, 
under  favorable  circumstances,  much  of  its  fruit  ripens  beyond 
our  jurisdiction  into  permanent  reformation,  and  in  others  the 
good  influences  which  have  been  brought  to  bear  exercise  a 
modifying  power  over  lives  which  know  no  other  restraint.  This 
Board  do  not  believe  in  any  panacea  for  a  vicious  and  depraved 


THE  CONGREGATE   SYSTEM  IN  REFORMATORIES.        281 

Capabilities  of  Plan  of  Organization. 

nature.  The  methods  employed  must  depend  to  a  degree  for 
their  success  on  causes  and  conditions  which  cannot  be  fully 
estimated,  and  over  which  we  can  have  only  a  partial  control. 
The  secret  springs  of  thought  and  action  lie  beyond  and  out  of 
our  sight ;  but  what  virtue  is  found  in  well-adapted  means  we 
claim. 

"  The  plan  of  our  organization  is  such  that  while,  in  a  com 
munity  so  large  as  ours,  systematically  to  individualize  our  train 
ing  and  efforts  would  involve  an  amount  of  expenditure  impos 
ing  a  serious  burden  upon  the  State,  compared  with  the  present 
very  moderate  rate ;  still,  obliged  as  we  are  to  deal  with  the 
subjects  of  our  discipline  mainly  in  the  mass,  they  are  so  broken 
up  by  divisions  in  each  department  and  by  separate  classes  in 
the  schools,  that  the  character  of  each  child  is  studied  and  under 
stood,  and  the  training  adapted  to  the  nature  of  each.  Com 
prehensively  the  design  of  the  House  of  Refuge  embraces  the 
physical,  moral,  and  intellectual  care  and  culture  of  its  inmates 
upon  a  basis  which,  while  securing  to  our  treasury  the  fruits  of 
a  well-arranged  and  limited  system  of  labor,  leaves  a  proper 
measure  of  time  for  instruction,  recreation,  and  rest.  .  .  .  Our 
inmates  may  be  said  to  form  a  large  household  where,  under  the 
guidance  of  a  well-matured  experience,  benevolence  and  religion 
combine  to  hold  the  reins  of  authority.  If  these  do  not  avail,  if 
judicious  restraints,  industrious  habits,  wholesome  advice,  ade 
quate  instruction,  and  all  under  conditions  favorable  to  health  of 
body  and  of  mind,  fail,  we  are  at  loss  to  supply  the  necessary 
elements.  We  know  of  no  better  way." 

The  records  of  every  succeeding  year  confirm  the  impression 
that,  among  these  classified  crowds,  the  searching  and  powerful 
moral  influences  of  the  House  work  out  their  benign  results. 


282      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Boy  of  the  Refuge  becomes  a  Colporteur. 

At  fourteen  years  of  age  James  C was  sent  to  the  House 

for  stealing  cotton  upon  the  docks.  His  father  was  intemperate, 
and  had  left  his  mother  in  England,  bringing  James  with  him 
to  this  country.  They  had  no  home  but  hired  lodgings,  and 
took  their  meals  wherever  they  happened  to  be  at  meal-time. 
It  was  said  of  him,  when  his  record  was  taken  upon  entering 
the  House,  "  He  will  require  some  training  to  cure  him  of  his 
habits."  He  was  indentured  in  a  good  family  in  this  State, 
and  favorable  accounts  were  received  of  him  from  time  to  time. 
In  1860  he  wrote  himself  as  follows:  "...  You  know  I  have 
served  out  my  time  as  an  apprentice,  and  I  am  at  present  travel 
ling  through  the  county  of  Greene,  as  a  colporteur  for  the 
American  Tract  Society ;  and  here  I  must  inform  you  that  this 
is  the  county  where  I  was  converted  and  joined  the  Church,  and 
I  feel  anxious  to  spread  that  Gospel  which  has  done  so  much  for 
me.  I  must  say  I  feel  well,  I  like  the  business,  it  is  the  Lord's 
work.  ...  I  can  now  look  back  with  pleasure  on  the  day  when 
I  first  entered  the  House  of  Refuge.  It  was  the  starting-point 
in  my  life.  I  believe  it  has  been  the  means  of  making  me 
what  I  am.  I  have  gained  very  many  kind  friends,  and,  what 
is  better,  they  are  Christian  friends.  My  associations  and  as 
sociates  are  Christian,  and  I  am  led  to  inquire  how  it  would 
have  been  with  me  if  I  had  been  left  to  myself  to  run  in  the 
streets  of  New  York,  where  so  many  youth  and  young  men  are 
ruined  ?  I  bless  the  day  that  I  was  ever  taken  from  them,  and 
I  hope  now,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to  live  a  Christian  life,  and  my 
desire  is  to  serve  Him  continually.  Oh,  how  I  should  like  to 
see  you  all  at  the  Refuge,  and  thank  all  of  you  for  the  kindness 
you  showed  to  me  while  I  was  with  you  !  I  wish  I  could  talk 
to  the  youth  and  young  men  under  your  care,  and  tell  them 


THE  CONGREGATE   SYSTEM   IN  REFORMATORIES.         283 

Visit  of  James  to  the  House. 

how  I  have  been  blessed  by  being  in  the  same  position  they 
now  are  in.  I  would  take  them  by  the  hand,  and  tell  them 
what  the  Lord  will  do  for  them  if  they  will  receive  Him.  I 
hope  the  time  will  come  when  I  shall  be  able  to  see  you,  and 
can  assure  you  it  will  give  me  great  pleasure  to  see  you  after  so 
long  an  absence.  But,  my  dear  sir,  should  we  never  meet 
again  on  earth,  we  have  the  consolation  that,  if  we  are  faithful 
in  the  service  of  our  God,  we  shall  meet  in  heaven." 

A  short  time  afterward  he  visited  the  House  and  passed  the 
night,  and  we  find  this  record  of  it  upon  the  Daily  Journal : 
"  James  C.,  No.  4,708,  visited  the  House  and  stayed  with  us  last 
night.  He  was  indentured  in  August,  1851 ;  his  term  of  ser 
vice  expired  in  1857,  giving  entire  satisfaction.  After  this  he 
attended  school  during  the  winter  months,  and  worked  on  the 
farm  in  the  summer ;  by  so  doing  he  has  obtained  a  good  educa 
tion.  He  is  a  worthy  and  exemplary  member  of  the  Dutch  Re 
formed  Church.  He  is  now  laboring  in  the  employment  of  the 
American  Tract  Society  in  Greene  County,  N.  Y.,  doing  good 
and  being  well  received.  He  closed  the  first  division  school  with 
a  very  able  prayer,  which,  on  account  of  the  peculiarity  of  his 
case,  was  quite  affecting.  His  deportment  and  conversation  were 
of  a  devoted  character,  and  gave  us  strong  evidences  of  his  be 
ing  a  warm-hearted  Christian." 


284      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

The  Refuge  becomes  a  Village. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    CLOSE    OF   THE    HALF    CENTURY. 

THE  census  of  the  institution  began  in  1865  to  rise  toward 
the  full  capacity  of  its  immense  halls.  During  the  early  part  of 
the  war,  for  apparent  reasons,  the  number  of  boys,  especially  of 
the  maturer  ones,  if  any  thing,  slightly  decreased,  but  with  its 
close  the  numbers  rose  rapidly  from  an  average  of  six  hundred 
to  the  good-sized  village  which  it  has  now  become,  with  a  pop 
ulation  of  a  thousand. 

It  is  a  matter  of  surprise  to  all  intimately  acquainted  with  the 
workings  of  the  Refuge,  and  with  the  annual  exposition  of  its 
benevolent  designs  and  reformatory  discipline,  that  many  intelli 
gent  persons  should  still  regard  the  House  as  a  penal  institution. 
This  misapprehension  greatly  embarrasses  the  good  work  of  the 
institution  and  brings  unnecessary  grief  and  chagrin  to  the  hearts 
of  friends.  The  impression  probably  arises  from  the  fact  that 
the  same  officers  of  justice  and  the  same  tribunals  commit  to  the 
prison  and  also  to  the  House  of  Refuge ;  and  from  the  additional 
fact  that,  while  many  of  the  courts  clearly  understand  its  benefi 
cent  design,  some  still  have  the  same  mistaken  apprehension  of 
its  true  character. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  we  constantly  meet  with  the  remark, 
both  from  friends  and  presiding  justices,  that  the  child  should 


THE   CLOSE   OF   THE   HALF   CENTURY.  285 

The  Institution  not  penal. 

be  discharged  "  because  he  has  been  sufficiently  punished,"  or 
that  he  ought  not  to  remain  in  the  House,  "  as  the  crime  charged 
against  him  was  so  trivial."  £f  the  institution  is  to  be  consid 
ered  as  a  place  of  punishment,  it  entirely  fails  of  its  object ;  for 
the  simple  restraint  within  its  walls  for  a  short  period,  with  its 
full  and  wholesome  diet,  its  hours  of  study  and  recreation,  and 
its  opportunity  for  learning  a  trade^  would  be  considered  no 
dreaded  consequence  of  wrong-doing,  and  have  no  power  to 
awaken  a  fear  of  again  committing  a  like  offence.  Six  months 
comfortable  boarding  and  schooling  would  be  no  adequate  pun 
ishment  to  a  boy  for  larceny,  but  would  rather  create  within 
him  a  sense  of  impunity  in  wrong-doing^  If  it  were  a  place  of 
punishment,  there  would  be  a  cruelty  in  allotting,  even  for  the 
shortest  period,  confinement  within  its  bounds  for  trifling  larce 
nies,  on  the  part  of  young  children,  thoughtlessly  committed. 
But  if  the  early  crime  is  in  one  sense  forgiven  by  the  commu 
nity,  on  account  of  the  youth  and  neglected  condition  of  the 
subject,  and  he  is  placed  away  from  temptation  under  suitable 
guardianship,  where  he  may  be  trained  for  a  useful  life,  and  then 
placed  in  a  position  to  begin  life  for  himself  with  a  fair  chance 
of  success,  what  might  otherwise  be  accounted,  a  wrong  becomes 
an  invaluable  charity.  Simple  punishment  might  require  but  a 
short  period  of  severe  discipline,  but  training  requires  time. 
Habits  cannot  be  shed  and  renewed  in  a  few  months,  and  char 
acter  grows  very  slowly.  But  this  period,  passed  in  physical, 
mental,  and  moral  culture,  is  of  manifest  advantage  both  to  the 
subject  and  to  his  friends.  Indeed,  as  to  the  former,  it  is,  in 
most  instances,  the  favorable  decision  of  the  question  between  a 
life  of  indolence  and  crime,  attended  with  their  inevitable  re 
sults  of  misery  and  ruin,  and  a  life  of  activity  and  virtue  crowned 


286      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH   JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Children  have  Eights  as  well  as  Parents. 

with  a  good  name.  Certainly  no  stain  of  the  prison  clouds  the 
recollection  of  former  inmates  of  the  Refuge,  who  have  pur 
chased  a  good  reputation  by  a  worthy  life. 

If  not  a  place  of  punishment,  why  should  children  be  sent 
here  whose  parents  have  the  pecuniary  ability  to  care  for  them  ? 
The  family  tie  should  not  be  broken  without  adequate  cause, 
and  parents  should  not  be  too  easily  released  from  their  obliga 
tion  to  support  their  children.  But  there  is  even  a  paramount 
obligation  that  the  community  owes  to  the  young ;  for,  if  parents 
neglect  their  charge,  it  is  evidently  the  duty  of  the  State,  in  some 
way,  to  assume  the  task,  both  for  its  own  security  and  for  the 
salvation  of  the  youth.  Children  have  a  natural  and  civil  right 
to  be  kept  from  the  temptations  of  the  street,  to  be  defended 
from  the  pernicious  example  of  evil  companions,  to  be  secured 
from  haunts  of  sin,  to  have  instruction  in  the  common  branches 
of  learning,  to  be  taught  habits  of  industry  and  the  practices  of 
virtue,  and  to  be  made  acquainted  with  their  duty  to  God  and 
man,  as  revealed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Whatever  may  be  the 
pecuniary  ability  of  the  parents,  this  obligation  to  the  children 
has  not  been  met  in  reference  to  those  committed  to  our  care, 
except  in  the  rarest  instances.  Even  in  cases  where  it  has  been 
attempted,  the  child  has  been  surrounded  by  such  influences 
that  the  efforts  of  the  parents  have  been  overborne  by  them. 
Nearly  all  our  children  have  been  truants,  if  sent  to  school,  and 
are  almost  utterly  deficient  as  to  the  first  steps  in  a  common 
education.  They  have  also  fallen  into  such  indolent  habits  that 
they  are  only  a  burden  upon  their  parents,  and  will  ultimately 
be  upon  the  community ;  and  their  moral  nature  has  remained 
entirely  unsolicited  by  religious  culture.  The  only  chance  for 
even  a  limited  education,  however  respectable  the  parents  seem 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE   HALF   CENTURY.  287 

Its  Moral  Influence  powerful. 

to  be,  and  for  an  established  habit  of  industry  and  reverence  for 
sacred  things,  is  that  offered  by  the  House  of  Refuge. 

There  is  another  misapprehension  existing  in  the  commu 
nity,  sometimes  even  seeking  expression  in  the  public  prints, 
destroying  both  the  confidence  of  parents  and  the  general  public 
in  the  ability  of  the  institution  to  accomplish  its  work.  Its  im 
mense  capacity  and  the  large  numbers  gathered  within  its  walls 
are  supposed  to  peril  its  reformatory  discipline,  and  to  render  it 
a  school  of  vice  rather  than  of  morals.  As  a  question  of  fact, 
the  carefully  accumulated  statistics  of  nearly  half  a  century 
give  a  most  satisfactory  answer  to  this  erroneous  judgment. 

It  is  well  to  call  to  mind  the  weight  of  the  moral  influence 
we  are  enabled  to  exert  over  our  inmates.  In  our  city,  from  the 
same  class  of  children,  the  Mission  Sunday-schools  are  collected. 
The  pupils  of  these  schools  are  under  wholesome  tuition  but  a 
few  hours  upon  the  Sabbath,  and  are  exposed,  all  the  rest  of  the 
time,  to  the  most  baneful  examples  and  severe  temptations ;  yet, 
it  is  confidently  affirmed  and  unquestioned,  that  a  vast  amount 
of  good  is  accomplished  by  even  these  short  periods  of  religious 
culture.  But  ah1  this  we  have  every  Sabbath,  with  constant  at 
tendance,  and,  in  addition  to  this,  the  impressive  services  of  the 
chapel,  adapted  to  their  age  and  wants ;  the  morning  and  even 
ing  prayer,  the  blessing  at  the  meal,  repeated  religious  ad 
dresses,  the  personal  contact  of  Christian  men  and  women ;  the 
regular  hours  of  study;  the  absence  of  the  temptations  con 
tinually  drawing  them  aside  when  in  the  streets — and  all  this 
continued  for  the  period  of  a  year  or  more.  If  any  thing  is  ac 
complished  in  the  Sunday-schools,  how  much  more,  with  God's 
blessing,  must  result  from  this  daily  moral  and  religious  disci 
pline  ! 


288      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Death  of  Superintendent  Kotchum.—  I.  C.  Jones  succeeds  him. 

Intelligent  men  speak  unadvisedly  when  they  give  utterance 
to  distrust  in  reference  to  the  influence  of  the  Refuge,  as  some 
have  frankly,  and  with  much  emotion,  acknowledged  when,  on 
the  Sabbath,  they  have  united  with  us  in  the  services  of  public 
worship,  or  have  become  familiar,  by  personal  inspection,  with 
our  daily  discipline. 

With  our  large  numbers  we  secure  much  of  the  character  of 
a  family  institution  by  our  many  subdivisions.  Walls  divide  us 
into  four  companies,  and  schools  still  further  separate  us  into 
thirteen  or  fourteen  classes,  under  different  teachers ;  so  that  the 
powerful  influence  of  personal  character  is  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  individual  child.  The  affectionate  recollections  which  the 
children  preserve  for  years,  of  their  teachers  and  officers,  mani 
fested  in  a  continued  correspondence,  show  how  powerful  for 
good  this  influence  is. 

In  March,  1863,  Mr.  Ketchum,  who  had  held  the  position  of 
Superintendent  for  fourteen  years,  closed  at  the  same  time  his 
life  and  his  charge  of  the  House.  He  died  in  the  peace  of  the 
Gospel,  to  which  alone  he  had  looked  as  the  great  reformatory 
agent  in  the  work  to  which  he  had  given  the  ripest  years  and 
best  energies  of  his  life.  During  nearly  all  this  period  he  had 
enjoyed  the  support  of  Mr.  I.  C.  Jones,  as  his  assistant.  With 
this  long  acquaintance  with  the  responsibilities  and  details  of  the 
position — the  fifth  in  this  honored  succession  of  first  officers — 
Mr.  Jones  entered  upon  the  administration  of  the  House,  and 
has  fully  confirmed  the  high  expectations  of  the  managers  in  his 
ability  and  executive  energy. 

In  the  same  year  Colonel  Linus  W.  Stevens,  who  had  been 
a  manager  for  more  than  sixteen  years,  and  devoted  a  large  por 
tion  of  his  time  to  the  service  of  the  House,  passed  away  from 


THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  HALF  CENTURY.       289 

Colonel  Stevens. — Edmund  M.  Young. 

earth.  "  In  justice  to  his  memory,"  say  the  Board,  in  the  de 
served  tribute  which  they  pay  to  his  worth,  "  and  in  gratification 
of  our  feeling  of  regard,  we  desire  to  record  our  appreciation 
of  his  eminent  services  in  the  inception  and  successful  comple 
tion  of  our  present  buildings.  His  sound  judgment  and  un 
wearied  perseverance  were  alike  conspicuous  in  the  many  appli 
cations  to  the  Legislature,  and  in  the  difficulties  arising  in  the 
course  of  the  erection  of  the  House;  his  connection  with  the 
Building  Committee  from  its  original  formation  to  the  close 
of  its  labors  brought  his  usefulness  into  constant  requisition; 
his  unswerving  probity  and  stainless  public  life  added  weight 
at  all  times  to  his  efforts  in  our  behalf  with  the  public 
authorities ;  and  his  admirable  tact,  his  sagacious  prudence,  and 
simple  suavity  of  manners  seldom  failed,  as  they  were  exerted 
to  accomplish  the  worthy  ends  he  had  in  view." 

The  succeeding  year  proved  to  be  fatal  to  another  one  of  the 
most  respected  and  useful  members  of  the  Board,  Mr.  Edmund 
M.  Young,  an  active,  successful,  and  well-known  merchant  of 
the  city.  For  about  twelve  years  he  had  generously  yielded  his 
valuable  services  to  the  interests  of  the  Refuge.  From  the  hour 
of  his  election  up  to  the  time  of  his  sudden  and  lamented  death, 
he  was  faithfully  and  "  efficiently  engaged  in  the  performance 
of  his  duties  as  a  manager,  serving,  as  he  did,  on  several  of  the 
most  important  committees.  Always  prompt,  of  sound  judg 
ment,  and  rare  executive  ability,  with  clear  views,  and  the 
strongest  interest  in  the  objects  of  the  institution,  his  devoted 
services  and  usefulness  were  most  highly  appreciated  by  his 
associates,  while  his  urbanity,  his  correct  principles,  and  sincere 
Christian  course  as  a  man,  endeared  him  to  all." 

The  succeeding  years  placed  the  fatal  star  upon  the  record 
19 


290      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Appointment  of  a  Permanent  Chaplain. 

against  the  honored  names  of  Thomas  B.  Stillman,  a  highly- 
respected  officer  of  the  General  Government,  as  well  as  a  trusted 
citizen ;  Walter  Underbill,  for  many  years  the  faithful  and  effi 
cient  treasurer  of  the  Society,  a  man  of  undoubted  integrity, 
and  enjoying  the  confidence  of  the  community,  whose  interest 
in  the  institution  and  its  unfortunate  inmates  rather  increased 
than  decreased  with  his  advancing  years ;  and  James  W.  Under 
bill,  the  banker,  prompt  in  business,  the  beloved  and  successful 
head  of  the  Sunday-school  of  his  church,  and  the  abiding  friend 
and  wise  counsellor  of  the  House  of  Refuge. 

All  these,  like  the  names  of  precious  memory  before  them, 
rested  from  their  earthly  labors,  and  we  and  those  that  will 
follow  us,  are  reaping,  and  will  continue  to  reap,  the  harvest  of 
their  sowing. 

The  Board  had  long  felt  the  importance  of  securing  some 
personal  supervision  over  its  indentured  children,  an  inspection 
of  the  homes  of  the  inmates  received  from  the  cities  of  New 
York  and  Brooklyn,  to  aid  the  Indenturing  Committee  in  decid 
ing  the  important  question  of  the  expediency  of  a  child's  dis 
charge  to  his  parents,  rather  than  upon  indentures  in  the  coun 
try,  and  an  organ  of  communication  with  the  magistrates  from 
whose  courts  the  majority  of  its  subjects  were  received ;  they 
were  also  impressed  with  the  importance  of  having  a  resident 
clergyman,  now  that  the  numbers  of  the  House  had  become  so 
large,  and  the  moral  condition  of  these  children  demanded  that 
they  should  be  touched  at  every  possible  point  of  contact  by  re 
ligious  agencies ;  they  therefore  sought  to  combine  these  objects, 
by  electing  a  permanent  chaplain,  and  making  the  important 
duties  above  referred  to  his  proper  pastoral  work. 

The  excellent  gentleman,  Rev.  Richard  Horton,  who  had  held 


THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  HALF  CENTURY. 


291 


Duties  of  the  Chaplain. 


the  office  of  chaplain  for  the  preceding  eight  years,  being  able 
only,  through  his  business  engagements,  to  yield  his  Sabbaths 
to  the  religious  instruction  of  the  children,  tendered  his  resigna 
tion,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  present  incumbent  of  the  office. 
In  addition  to  the  public  Sabbath  service,  the  chaplain  now 
leads  in  evening  prayer  one  of  the  divisions  of  the  school,  visits 
the  sick  in  the  hospitals,  is  visited  by  any  inmate  that  desires  an 


RIVERSIDE    PARSONAGE,   RANDALL'S    ISLAND. 

interview,  preaches  to  the  officers  on  one  evening  in  the  week, 
and  attends  such  funeral  services  and  public  occasions  as  are  in 
cident  to  the  place  and  the  tunes. 

^ o  render  the  exercises  of  the  sanctuary  a  personal  act  of  the 
children,  rather  than  a  performance  to  which  they  are  simply 
to  give  their  attention,  a  series  of  liturgical  services,  as  has  been 
intimated,  were  prepared  under  the  direction  of  the  Board,  so 


292      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Effect  of  Liturgical  Services. 

varied  as  to  meet  the  different  exigencies  of  daily  devotions  and 
Sabbath  worship,  and  interspersed  with  extemporaneous  prayers, 
to  give  expression  to  the  peculiar  religious  emotions  and  wants 
of  the  hour.  This  very  elastic  and  simple  form  of  worship  has 
now  been  in  use  about  five  years,  and  it  is  only  expressing  the 
unanimous  sentiment  of  all  who  have  united  with  us  in  our 
services,  representing  almost  every  shade  of  Christian  belief, 
that  it  rarely  occurs,  that  what  may  be  called  the  devotional 
parts  of  the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  often  in  other  congrega 
tions  listened  to  with  apparently  little  attention,  are  conducted 
with  such  universal  interest  and  reverence. 

It  is  an  affecting  illustration  of  the  firm  hold  with  which 
these  devotional  formularies  seize  upon  the  memories  and  hearts 
of  the  children,  and  of  their  "power  of  God  unto  salvation," 
that  in  the  instance  of  a  number  of  the  older  boys,  who,  at 
times,  have  manifested  a  deep  and  sincere  interest  in  spiritual 
things,  in  their  extemporaneous  prayers  in  the  voluntary  services 
which  they  attended  during  a  portion  of  their  hours  of  recre 
ation,  in  the  school-room,  these  appropriate  and  peculiarly  ex 
pressive  sentences  of  Scriptural  confession  and  supplication  often 
occurred.  This  form  of  service,  with  the  Bible,  accompanies  the 
child  when  leaving  the  institution  for  a  new  home.  All  the 
laws  of  association,  and  all  the  strength  of  memory  and  habit, 
will  tend  to  keep  the  hours  of  devotion  in  the  mind,  while  the 
familiar  manual  will  offer  the  well-known  channel  for  the  utter 
ance  of  religious  emotions. 

The  visits  of  the  chaplain,  among  the  families  into  whose 
hands  children  had  been  placed  by  indentures,  disclosed  upon 
the  whole  a  very  satisfactory  condition  of  things.  Of  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty-three  to  whom  personal  visits  were  made,  or  of 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE   HALF  CENTURY.  293 

Chaplain's  Visits  to  Homes  of  Children. 

whom  information  was  obtained,  during  one  summer  and  fall, 
thirty-nine  only  had  been  returned  to  the  House,  or  had  run 
away  from  their  places.  The  remainder  were  doing  well,  and  a 
large  proportion  of  the  families  was  all  that  could  be  desired. 

To  aid  the  Indenturing  Committee  in  determining  when  they 
might  safely  yield  to  the  importunity  of  parents,  for  the  dis 
charge  of  children  back  to  their  custody,  instead  of  indenturing 
them  in  the  country,  the  chaplain  was  made  secretary  of  the 
committee,  and  such  cases  are  committed  to  him  for  a  personal 
examination  of  the  homes  and  of  the  places  of  labor  provided  for 
the  inmates  when  released.  Written  reports  are  made  which 
are  transcribed  upon  a  permanent  record  for  reference  when  re 
quired.  The  nature  and  importance  of  this  service  will  be  better 
understood  by  a  few  extracts  from  the  journal  of  these  visits. 

"  The  chaplain  had  a  very  satisfactory  conversation  with  Jus 
tice  F T ,  in  reference  to  the  case  of  J C .  By 

personal  inquiry  it  was  found  that  the  boy  had  a  bad  reputation 
when  at  home ;  that  the  part  of  the  city  where  his  mother  re 
sided  was  the  worst  possible  place  for  him ;  and  two  parties 
capable  of  forming  a  safe  judgment  earnestly  protested  against 
his  return.  When  the  justice  learned  with  how  much  care  every 
case  brought  before  the  committee  was  examined,  and  the  prin 
ciples  upon  which  they  acted,  he  expressed  great  surprise  and 
pleasure,  and  intimated  that  he  should  hereafter  rest  quietly 
upon  their  decisions,  after  all  the  facts  brought  to  his  knowledge 
had  been  presented  to  them." 

"  In  the  case  of  B W ,  the  examination  of  the  home 

developed  much  to  awaken  sympathy.  A  miserable  drunken 
father  was  in  the  penitentiary  on  Blackwell's  Island.  The  suf 
fering  wife  felt  assured  that  she  was  relieved  from  him  forever. 


294      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Extracts  from  Chaplain's  Journal. 

A  daughter,  hardly  recovered  from  a  fever,  unable  to  work,  was 
living  at  home.  The  mother  and  daughter  bear  a  good  charac 
ter,  and  need  the  aid  of  B ,  for  whom  a  position  which  she 

had  previously  occupied  was  open.  There  are  good  grounds  to 
believe  that  the  girl  was  innocent  of  the  offence  for  which  she 
was  committed  to  the  House  a  year  since.  Her  case  is  com 
mended  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  committee." 

"  Justice  C called  the  attention  of  the  committee  to  the 

case  of  M S ,  upon  the  recommendation  of  Rev.  Father 

T ,  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  the  Transfiguration.  The  chap 
lain  had  a  pleasant  call  upon  Father  T .  He  would  on  no 

account,  he  said,  recommend  the  discharge  of  the  girl  to  her  pa 
rents  unless  they  left  the  city.  Should  they  go  to  R ,  as  they 

now  propose  to  do,  he  thinks  M may  be  safely  returned  to 

their  care.  The  parents  have  been  to  him  often  before,  and  he 
has  always  refused  their  request  to  have  her  returned  to  them  in 
the  city." 

"  In  the  case  of  M H ,  the  chaplain  reports  that  the 

home  in  Mulberry  Street  is  as  bad  a  place  as  possible  for  a  girl, 
and  that  the  mother  assented  to  this  proposition.  The  father 
has  been  an  invalid  for  a  long  period,  and  appears  to  be  near  his 

end.  It  is  recommended  that  M be  taken  to  the  city  to  see 

her  father  once  more.  The  mother  seems  to  be  an  honest  and 

industrious  woman.  She  needs  any  assistance  that  M could 

render  her  in  the  support  of  the  family.  She  was  advised  to 
find  a  good  place  for  her  daughter  and  report  it  to  the  superin 
tendent." 

"  Visited  the  home  of  P O'H ,  and  found  as  dreary 

and  dirty  a  room  as  can  well  be  imagined.  Three  or  four  nearly 
naked  children  were  running  about,  exhibiting  the  utmost  neg- 


THE   CLOSE   OF   THE   HALF   CENTURY.  295 

The  Tenement  Home. 

lect.  Seeing  the  impression  made  by  the  first  appearance  of 
things,  a  woman  in  the  family  remarked  that  they  *  were  about 
removing,  as  they  had  trouble  with  their  landlord ; '  but  to  this 

statement  Mrs.  O'H objected,  saying  that  they  *  were  not 

intending  to  move,'  that  there  '  was  no  trouble,'  and  that '  she 
could  speak  for  herself.'  She  said  her  husband  had  been  receiv 
ing  twenty  shillings  a  day  for  his  work,  and  was  '  now  upon  a 
little  strike  for  three  dollars.'  It  might  be  stated  that  the  cloth 
ing  of  Mrs.  O'H was  nearly  as  ragged  and  scanty  as  that 

of  the  children.  She  said  they  had  no  place  provided  for  the 
boy  to  work,  and  simply  wanted  him  at  home,  as  his  father  was 
able  to  support  him." 

"  Called  at  the  home  of  J.  J.  B ,  and  found  it  to  be  a 

rear  tenement-house,  with  terrible  odors  filling  the  passage-ways. 
The  rooms,  however,  in  the  upper  story,  occupied  by  the  family 
were  comfortable,  and  the  parents  appeared  very  tidy  and  re 
spectable.  The  scene  upon  entering  the  room  was  an  affecting 
one  in  the  extreme :  the  father,  feeble,  and  evidently  in  the  last 
stages  of  consumption,  was  sitting  in  an  easy-chair,  and  the 
mother,  an  invalid,  was  lying  upon  the  bed.  All  the  earnings  of 
the  family  have  been  exhausted  by  their  sickness.  There  were 
three  little  children  in  the  room,  too  young  to  do  any  thing  for 

their  own  support.     J has  heretofore  been  able  to  earn  six 

dollars  a  week,  and  is  the  only  member  of  the  family  now  able 
to  do  any  thing  for  their  support.  He  had  fallen  into  bad  com 
pany,  but  has  been  deeply  affected  since  he  has  been  at  the 
Refuge,  by  a  knowledge  of  the  helpless  condition  of  the  family. 
He  has  in  several  instances  given  evidence  of  a  manly  character, 
and  a  desire  to  be  a  good  boy. 

When  the  chaplain  intimated,  during  the  visit,  the  possibility 


296      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Would  not  leave  New  York  for  a  Kingdom. 

of  his  being  discharged,  the  scene  was  truly  a  touching  one.  The 
mother  rose  up  from  the  bed  to  shake  hands  with  him,  the  tears 
running  down  her  face ;  the  father,  unable  to  rise,  stretched  out 
his  hand,  and  the  children,  one  after  another,  followed  the  ex 
ample  of  their  parents.  The  mother  insisted  upon  the  chaplain's 
taking  a  sprig  of  the  geranium  which  she  was  carefully  cultivat 
ing  in  the  window,  as  an  expression  of  her  gratitude.  The  cir 
cumstances  of  the  case  without  the  name  were  related  to  the 
boys  of  the  second  division  at  evening  prayers.  They  all  seemed 

much  affected,  J particularly  so.     To  the  question  whether 

a  boy  in  such  a  case  might  be  trusted  to  go  and  take  care  of  his 
helpless  parents  and  family,  there  was  a  unanimous  answer  in 
the  affirmative.  With  the  consent  of  the  Indenturing  Commit 
tee,  the  chaplain  accompanied  J to  his  home.  The  scene  at 

his  return  can  be  better  imagined  than  described.  Up  to  the 
present  time  the  boy  has  fulfilled  his  promise,  and  faithfully  pro 
vided  for  his  parents.  They  have  all  removed  from  the  city, 
and  have  secured  employment  and  a  good  home  in  the  West. 

"  Visited  the  mother  of  S J ,  Baxter  Street.     His 

father  has  lately  died.  An  uncle  of  the  boy  lives  in  Northfield, 
Vermont,  and  expresses  much  interest  in  the  family,  sending 

money  to  them.     He  says  he  can  find  work  for  S ,  and  offers 

to  pay  his  fare,  directing  as  to  the  route  he  should  take.  The 
mother  intimated  that  she  was  about  to  remove  there ;  but  when 
it  was  proposed  to  place  S on  board  the  Troy  boat  when 
ever  she  was  ready  to  start,  she  flamed  up  at  once  and  said  she 
would  '  not  leave  New  York  for  a  kingdom,'  and  it  was  very 

evident  that  she  did  not  intend  that  S should  leave  the  city. 

The  home  is  a  rear-tenement,  in  about  the  worst  neighborhood 
in  the  city.  Northfield  is  the  place  for  S ." 


THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  HALF  CENTURY.       297 

Boys  in  the  Army  and  Navy. 

"  Called  at  the  home  of  C C .     Found  it  with  much 

difficulty.  The  mother  was  away  from  home.  Her  parents  live 
in  a  crowded,  rear  tenement-house.  The  room  was  in  the  third 
story,  and  two  little  girls  were  looking  out  from  it  through 
broken  panes  of  glass,  being  locked  in.  This  it  was  found  was 
the  daily  custom,  as  the  mother  goes  out  every  day  to  wash.  A 

neighbor   said    that    Mrs.   C did   get   drunk,   but  would 

do  better  if  she  were  not  so  constantly  abused  by  her  hus 
band.  She  said  he  also  was  intemperate,  and  that  a  short  time 
since  he  had  been  placed  in  the  penitentiary  for  cruelty  and 
abuse  toward  his  wife.  All  this  confirms  the  sad  story  brought 
by  the  little  girl  to  the  House,  our  belief  in  which  was  somewhat 
shaken  by  the  good  appearance  of  the  father.  Her  home  would 
be  a  miserable  place  for  C ." 

These  few,  out  of  a  large  volume  of  records,  already  collected, 
will  serve  to  indicate  how  important  a  knowledge  of  the  actual 
condition  of  the  home  and  the  state  of  the  family  is,  to  enable 
the  committee,  considering  the  question  of  the  final  disposition 
of  the  child,  to  judge  prudently  and  humanely  between  the 
legitimate  home  of  the  inmate  and  a  new  legal  one  in  a  strange 
family. 

The  last  years  in  the  history  of  the  House  have  been  made 
memorable  by  incidents  connected  with  the  great  civil  war 
through  which  we  have  passed.  The  boys  entered  fully  into 
the  spirit  of  the  times,  and  among  the  older  inmates  there  was 
an  intense  desire  to  enlist  either  in  the  army  or  navy.  Between 
three  and  four  hundred  entered  the  service  of  the  country, 
directly  from  the  institution,  during  the  struggle,  and  a  much 
larger  number  of  those  that  had  been  indentured  or  discharged 
found  their  way  into  the  army  or  navy. 


298      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Incidents  of  the  late  War. 

Many  rose  to  positions  of  considerable  distinction,  both  upon 
the  sea  and  land.  When  bounties  began  to  be  paid,  large  sums 
were  placed  by  the  boys  in  the  Savings  Banks,  which  became  a 
valuable  capital  for  them  upon  their  return  from  the  army,  or  a 
generous  aid  to  their  parents. 

The  constant  perils  of  the  war  and  the  regular  discipline  of 
the  army  seemed  to  have  a  favorable  moral  influence  over  the 
young  soldiers,  keeping  fresh  in  their  minds  the  instructions  of 
the  Refuge.  Very  interesting  and  affecting  illustrations  of  this 
fact  were  constantly  coming  to  our  notice  during  the  last  years 
of  the  war. 

The  following  letter  was  received,  in  1866,  from  the  gentle 
man  at  the  West  to  whom  J.  T.  had  been  indentured :  "  He 
remained  with  me,"  says  the  writer,  "  until  August,  1861. 
During  the  time  he  lived  with  me  he  felt  very  much  at  home, 
was  industrious  and  honest,  and  attended  Sabbath-school  and 
church  regularly.  During  the  last  six  months  he  was  with  us 
he  improved  very  much.  The  religious  instructions  he  had  re 
ceived  were  manifestly  having  a  good  effect.  In  August,  1861, 
he  enlisted,  with  my  consent,  in  the  42d  Illinois  Volunteers.  I 
felt  some  fears  that  the  temptations  of  camp-life  would  be  too 
much  for  him  to  withstand,  but  he  conducted  himself  nobly  on 
the  field,  and  won  the  confidence  of  his  officers.  We  kept  up  a 
correspondence  with  him.  His  letters  grew  more  and  more 
interesting,  and  showed  a  radical  change  wrought  in  him.  He 
expressed  the  strongest  attachment  to  my  family ;  called  up 
things  that  were  done  which  were  wrong,  and  begged  our  for 
giveness.  After  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  I  received  a  letter 
from  a  member  of  the  Christian  commission,  informing  me  that 
J.  was  severely  wounded,  and  expressing  a  very  favorable 


THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  HALF  CENTURY.  299 

Daily  Journal  during  the  War. 

opinion  in  regard  to  his  Christian  experience.  He  lay  seven 
days  upon  the  battle-field  before  he  was  brought  in  and  cared 
for.  I  afterward  had  an  interview  with  a  Christian  companion 
of  his  who  was  with  him  in  the  closing  scene.  In  relating  his 
conversation  with  him,  he  said  he  asked  him  this  question :  '  Did 
you  not  suffer  terribly  while  you  lay  upon  the  battle-field  ? ' 
'  Suffer,'  he  answered,  c  how  could  I  suffer  when  Jesus  was 
with  me  ? '  We  feel  that  he  has  left  us  a  rich  legacy  in 
this  simple  expression,  abundantly  repaying  us  for  all  our 
anxiety,  care,  and  trotfble  in  his  behalf.  He  died  January  23, 
1864." 

The  Daily  Journal,  during  these  memorable  years,  contains 
constant  records  like  the  following:  "H.  F.  visited  us  to-day, 
after  an  absence  of  over  two  years,  during  which  he  has  served 
his  country  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  participating  in  nearly 
all  the  battles,  but  escaped  without  injury.  During  the  seven 
days'  battles  he  distinguished  himself  by  his  coolness  and  bravery, 
and  was  rewarded  by  being  promoted  to  the  rank  of  second 

lieutenant,  and  is  now  attached  to  the regiment  of  heavy 

artillery.  He  is  an  intelligent  young  man,  and  we  predict  for 
him  a  prosperous  future." 

"  B.  L.  was  sixteen  years  of  age  when  he  came  to  the 
House.  He  had  become  a  pickpocket,  and  was  deemed  a  hard 
case.  After  remaining  at  the  Refuge  about  seventeen  months, 
he  was  permitted  to  enlist  as  a  private  in  the  army.  Three  years 
from  the  date  of  his  enlistment  he  visited  the  House,  accompa 
nied  by  his  wife,  a  very  well-appearing  and  intelligent  young 
woman,  who  seemed  quite  proud  of  her  husband,  and  in  no 
measure  disturbed  to  know  that  he  was  once  an  inmate  of  the 
institution.  Without  aid  from  friends,  by  his  own  good  conduct 


300      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Honorable  Service  rewarded. 

and  courage,  lie  worked  his  way  through  all  the  intermediate 
positions  until  he  had  reached  that  of  captain.  He  was  still  in 
the  army,  and  wore  his  uniform  with  much  grace." 

"  James  C.  visited  the  House  this  afternoon,  accompanied  by 
his  wife.  He  was  in  the  army,  but  was  discharged  on  account 
of  severe  wounds  received  during  the  seven  days'  battles.  He  is 
now  master  of  a  vessel  in  the  employment  of  the  government, 
carrying  supplies  for  the  army.  He  is  a  fine-looking  man,  and 
has  a  neat,  modest  wife." 

"  James  R.  visited  the  House  this  morning.  He  was  inden 
tured  seven  years  ago  to  Mr.  S.,  of  Connecticut,  who  represents 
him  to  have  been  a  faithful  apprentice.  When  the  war  broke 
out,  he  obtained  his  master's  permission  to  enlist  in  one  of  the 
Connecticut  regiments,  and  accompanied  General  Burnside  on 
his  expedition.  He  subsequently  joined  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac,  and  took  a  part  in  the  principal  battles.  His  term  of  ser 
vice  having  expired,  he  enlisted  again,  and  received  a  bounty  of 
seven  hundred  and  two  dollars,  which  he  has  securely  invested. 
He  is  now  in  good  health  and  spirits,  having  entirely  recovered 
from  a  wound  received  in  battle." 

"  George  H.  called  to  see  us  this  morning.  He  is  a  soldier, 
having  been  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  nearly  three  years,  and 
has  been  in  many  battles.  He  is  now  at  home  on  a  short  fur 
lough,  and  is  suffering  from  the  effects  of  a  wound  in  the  arm. 
He  speaks  favorably  of  a  number  of  our  boys  who  are  in  his 
regiment.  All  are  in  good  spirits,  and  are  determined  to  '  fight 
it  out  on  this  line.'  " 

"  Philip  J.,  a  former  inmate,  visited  the  House  this  afternoon, 
having  obtained  a  short  furlough  ashore  while  his  ship  is  under 
going  repairs  at  the  Navy  Yard.  He  has  been  for  some  time  in 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE   HALF   CENTURY.  301 

Society  for  the  Protection  of  Catholic  Children. 

the  United  States  service,  and  has  been  promoted  to  the  berth 
of  master's  mate,  having  passed  through  all  the  petty  grades  to 
his  present  position.  He  is  a  steady  young  man,  and  his  future 
is  promising." 

"  Charles  S.,  who  left  the  House  in  1857,  called  to  see  us  to 
day.  He  entered  the  army  when  the  war  first  broke  out,  was 
promoted  through  the  several  grades  to  captain,  when  his  health 
failed,  and  he  resigned  his  commission.  He  has  lately  come  into 
the  possession  of  quite  a  fortune,  and  is  at  the  present  time 
living  in  the  city.  He  is  a  gentlemanly  young  man,  and  bears 
himself  modestly." 

"  E.  L.  called  to  see  us  this  morning  and  to  attend  the  chapel 
service.  He  was  discharged  from  the  House  two  years  ago,  and 
shortly  after  enlisted  in  one  of  the  New- York  regiments  for  two 
years.  He  has  served  his  time  honorably,  and  has  now  re- 
enlisted,  receiving  a  bounty  of  eight  hundred  and  two  dollars, 
which,  added  to  his  previous  savings,  makes  him  upwards  of  a 
thousand  dollars  on  deposit  in  the  Savings  Bank.  He  is  a  fine- 
looking  young  man." 

These  quotations  might  be  almost  indefinitely  multiplied, 
showing  at  the  same  time  the  good  service  rendered  by  the  in 
stitution  to  the  country  in  the  hour  of  its  greatest  peril,  and  the 
effect  of  the  previous  discipline  of  these  young  men,  to  defend 
them  against  the  peculiar  temptations  of  the  camp. 

April  14,  1863,  the  Legislature  of  the  State  gave  to  the 
"  Society  for  the  Protection  of  Destitute  Roman  Catholic  Chil 
dren  in  the  City  of  New  York "  an  act  of  incorporation  very 
similar  to  that  of  the  Juvenile  Asylum,  and  made  it  the  duty  of 
the  Courts  that,  "  whenever  the  parent,  guardian,  or  next  of  kin 
of  any  Catholic  child  about  to  be  finally  committed,  shall  request 


302      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Buildings  in  Westchester  County. 

the  magistrate  to  commit  the  child  to  the  Catholic  institution, 
the  magistrate  shall  grant  the  request." 

This  Society  and  institution  owe  their  origin  and  successful 
establishment  to  the  indefatigable  and  persevering  endeavors  of 
Dr.  L.  Silliman  Ives.  Large  donations,  in  the  beginning,  were 
made  by  generous  Catholics  of  the  city ;  considerable  sums  of 
money  have  been  raised  by  lectures  and  fairs;  annual  subscrip 
tions  are  still  taken  up,  a  portion  of  the  current  expenses  is 
raised  by  the  labor  of  the  children,  and  the  remainder-  comes 
from  annual  donations  from  the  State  and  the  city. 

The  Society  receives  both  sexes  into  its  custody,  but  they  are 
placed  under  separate  administrations,  the  boys  under  the  Chris 
tian  Brothers  and  the  girls  under  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  For 
several  years  the  two  branches  of  the  institution  were  poorly  ac 
commodated  in  hired  houses  in  the  city ;  but  in  1867  a  brick 
building  for  the  boys  was  completed  on  a  large  farm  in  West- 
Chester  County,  about  three  miles  from  the  Harlem  Bridge,  and 
the  corner-stone  of  an  edifice  for  girls  was  laid  at  a  short  distance 
from  the  boys'  House.  The  boys'  building  is  temporary,  being 
intended  for  shops  when  the  main  edifice  is  completed ;  but  it  is 
very  comfortably  and  economically  arranged.  The  institution 
has  been  peculiarly  successful  in  its  choice  of  a  Superintendent, 
Brother  Telliow,  a  Prussian,  a  gentleman  of  warm  and  humane 
sentiments,  of  great  practical  wisdom,  and  of  much  quiet  execu 
tive  power.  It  has  another  advantage  peculiar  to  the  Catholic 
Church,  at  least  in  this  country.  Wichern,  as  we  have  seen,  has 
secured  the  same  object  under  Protestant  auspices  in  Holland. 
It  has  twenty  officers,  all  belonging  to  the  order  of  the  Christian 
Brothers.  They  give  themselves  to  the  church,  when  they  take 
the  vows  of  the  order,  to  be  teachers  wherever  they  may  be  ap- 


THE  CLOSE   OF  THE  HALF  CENTURY.  303 


Christian  Brothers. 


pointed  to  labor.  They  are  looking  to  nothing  besides.  They 
will  never  be  priests  ;  they  are  expecting  to  pursue  no  form  of 
business  hereafter,  but  for  life  will  remain  in  the  office  of  in 
structors.  Their  salaries  are  simply  the  requisite  provision  for 
their  living,  sick  or  well.  These  men  are  constantly  with  the 
boys  in  school,  work,  recreation,  and  in  the  dormitory ;  and  it 
can  be  readily  seen  what  a  moral  power  they  are  able  to  bring 
to  the  aid  of  the  Superintendent  in  his  work  of  reforming  the 
young  persons  thus  placed  in  their  hands. 

Brother  Telliow  appreciates  the  importance  of  securing  hab 
its  of  industry  and  the  value  of  regular  work  in  attaining  good 
discipline  in  the  House.  Shop-work,  for  lack  of  securing  as  yet 
suitable  contractors  to  employ  the  services  of  the  boys,  has  not 
been  as  remunerative  as  it  may  be  rendered,  but  the  quality  of 
the  work  is  good,  and  the  favorable  effect  of  it  upon  the  lads  is 
beyond  a  question. 

There  is  no  exchange  of  labor  between  the  boys  and  girls, 
excepting  that  the  shoes  for  both  departments  are  made  by  the 
former.  Washing,  tailoring,  dressmaking,  and  mending,  each 
sex  attends  to  by  itself. 

The  boys'  institution  is  crowded,  about  seven  hundred  being 
gathered  into  it.  One  hundred  and  seventy  girls  form  the 
female  department.  The  average  time  of  detention,  on  account 
of  the  crowded  state  of  the  institution,  is  short,  being  consider 
ably  within  a  year ;  and  the  Courts  have  been  informed  that 
their  ability  to  accommodate  other  committals  is  exactly  meas 
ured  by  the  discharges  they  can  make.  Nearly  all  their  inmates 
have  been  sent  to  them  by  the  magistrates,  although  they  have 
the  power  to  receive  children  whose  custody  has  been  released 
to  them  by  their  parents  or  guardians. 


304      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

[About  purchasing  a  Farm  at  the  West. 

The  boys  range  young,  the  average  age  being  much  below  the 
House  of  Refuge,  and  they  seem  to  be  from  a  much  better  class 
of  street  children.  Thus  far  most  of  the  discharges  have  been 
to  parents ;  but  measures  are  being  considered  to  effect  the  dis 
tribution  of  more  of  them  in  the  country,  especially  at  the  West. 
The  purchase  of  a  large  farm  in  some  Western  State  has  been 
recommended  by  friends  of  the  Society,  to  which  many  of  the 
children  might  be  deported,  and  from  whence  they  could  be  dis 
tributed  throughout  the  farming  districts  of  the  country.  Very 
large  and  imposing  buildings  form  the  plan  of  the  establishment, 
when  its  original  purpose  is  carried  out,  and  a  decided  impres 
sion  will  be  made  upon  the  juvenile  crime  of  the  city,  when  its 
full  capacity  is  reached. 

We  can  certainly  bid  our  Catholic  co-laborers  in  this  work 
"  God-speed ; "  and,  after  they  have  reached  their  utmost  limits, 
we  shall  find  the  streets  of  the  city  crowded  with  children,  who 
will  more  than  fill  our  Asylums  and  Refuges,  and  who  are  per 
ishing  for  lack  cf  proper  care  and  training. 

The  marked  feature  of  the  House  of  Refuge  at  the  present 
time  is  the  practical  direction  which  has  been  given  to  its  long- 
established  system  of  grades,  and  the  important  office  which  it 
is  made  to  accomplish  in  the  discipline  of  the  House.  So  mani 
fest  has  this  latter  effect  become,  that  the  "lock-ups,"  which 
were  constructed  in  the  House  at  its  opening  for  separate  and 
solitary  punishment,  have  been,  every  one  of  them,  removed, 
and  a  large  open  dormitory  has  been  constructed  in  their  place. 
Corporal  punishment  has  been  in  this  way  reduced  to  an  ex 
ceedingly  small  percentage,  and  a  general  appearance  of  cheer 
fulness  and  hopefulness  has  been  secured  throughout  the  institu 
tion.  In  the  Appendix  to  this  volume  the  system  is  presented 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE   HALF   CENTURY.  305 

The  present  System  of  Grades. 

in  detail.  The  boy  is  met  when  he  enters  the  House  (and  the 
same  is  true  of  the  girl)  with  the  assurance  that  the  hour  of  his 
discharge  is  in  his  own  hands.  The  two  simple  rules  of  the 
Kefuge  are  recited  to  him,  and  the  effect  of  obedience  to  them 
upon  his  standing  and  comfort  in  the  House,  and  upon  the  time 
of  his  discharge,  is  clearly  and  fully  explained.  If  in  the  school, 
in  the  shop,  in  the  yard,  and  everywhere,  he  always  tells  the 
truth,  and  does  the  best  he  knows  how,  he  will  receive  and  hold, 
the  grade  (1).  If  he  retains  this  grade  for  a  year,  and  has 
advanced  to  the  fourth  class  in  school,  he  has  purchased  his  dis 
charge  by  good  conduct,  and  the  door  that  has  detained  him 
opens  before  him  as  soon  as  his  friends  or  the  institution  can 
secure  a  suitable  place  for  him. 

As  a  barrier  against  the  importunity  of  friends  who  have  not 
always  the  best  interests  of  the  children  at  heart,  especially  in 
reference  to  their  education,  it  is  required  that  the  inmate  shall 
reach,  at  least,  the  third  class  in  school  before  he  is  discharged. 
This  acts  as  a  wholesome  spur  to  the  ambition  of  an  indolent  or 
stupid  boy.  No  one  can  be  discharged  that  has  not  been  in  the 
grade  (1)  for  at  least  six  weeks.  By  carelessness,  by  idleness, 
or  by  wilfulness,  shown  when  about  his  work  or  in  school,  a  boy 
may  sink  by  one  degree  a  week  to  the  lowest  grade  (or  by  some 
serious  offence  at  once  through  all  the  grades),  which  is  (4).  In 
such  a  case  four  additional  weeks  to  the  six  in  the  grade  (1)  are 
required  before  he  can  be  discharged ;  and  for  every  succeeding 
(4)  two  weeks  are  added  to  the  previous  accumulations.  Every 
boy  knows  his  position  in  reference  to  a  discharge,  and  would 
respond  at  once  if  questioned,  when,  according  to  his  badge,  he 
can  be  released.  As  this  change  of  badge  is  so  serious  a  matter 
to  an  inmate,  only  the  Superintendent,  assistant  superintendent, 


306       A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Contractors  never  control  the  Discipline  of  the  House. 

and  matron  (before  whom  the  offence  has  not  been  committed, 
and  who  can  consequently  weigh  calmly  the  charges  brought 
against  the  children)  administer  this  discipline.  It  is  done  in 
the  presence  of  the  inmate  before  the  school,  on  Saturday  even 
ing,  and  is  a  very  impressive  occasion. 

The  labor  of  the  boys  and  girls  is  let  out  to  contractors,  who 
supply  their  own  overseers.  But  these  overseers  have  nothing 
to  do  with  determining  the  amount  of  work  to  be  done  by  the 
inmates,  and  are  not  permitted  in  any  manner  to  administer 
discipline.  The  daily  stint  of  labor  is  settled  by  the  officers 
of  the  House,  and  has  been  established  after  the  most  careful 
examination  of  a  boy's  ability  at  different  ages,  and  at  different 
stages  of  his  advance  in  the  knowledge  of  the  trade,  and  is  in 
tended  to  be  not  more  than  two-thirds  of  what  a  boy  in  the 
same  conditions  of  age  and  skill,  outside  of  the  Refuge,  with  the 
spur  of  a  pecuniary  reward,  can  easily  accomplish.  Every  act 
of  discipline  in  the  shop  is  accorded  by  the  assistant  superin_ 
tendent  upon  the  report  of  the  House  officer  stationed  in  each 
shop. 

The  great  object  sought  (and  it  has  been  gained)  is,  to  have 
every  inmate  feel  that  perfect  justice  will  be  done  him,  and  that 
he  will  have  a  fair  chance  to  merit  an  honorable  badge.  A 
boy,  who  was  just  ready  to  be  discharged,  was  irritated  beyond 
his  power  of  self-control  by  the  unhappy  manner  of  a  workman, 
and,  in  a  moment  of  excitement,  used  very  improper  language. 
There  was  but  one  course  to  be  pursued.  It  was  as  severe  a 
strain  upon  the  sympathies  of  the  Superintendent  as  upon  the 
condition  of  the  boy.  He  was  degraded  from  his  standing,  and, 
although  his  friends  had  been  requested  to  com  for  him,  thir 
teen  additional  weeks  were  added  to  his  detention.  But  justice 


THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  HALF  CENTURY.  307 

Illustrative  Incidents. 

was  equal  in  its  balance ;  the  workman  was  peremptorily  dis 
charged.  As  might  be  expected,  a  powerful  and  wholesome  im 
pression  was  made  by  the  affair  upon  the  minds  of  the  boys. 

The  absence  of  the  assistant  superintendent,  a  short  time  since, 
brought  the  Superintendent  into  the  shops  in  his  place.  He 
noticed  a  long  string  of  boys  assembled  upon  the  line  to  be  dis 
ciplined  for  failure  in  the  work.  They  were  some  of  the  best 
boys  in  the  institution.  The  Superintendent  talked  with  them, 
heard  their  reasons  for  the  failure,  and  also  the  testimony  of  the 
overseer.  He  sent  the  boys  back  again,  after  talking  with  them, 
to  their  work.  He  learned  that  this  overseer  had  for  some  time 
experienced  this  difficulty  with  his  boys,  and  made  this  daily 
complaint  of  a  large  portion  of  them.  The  Superintendent  was 
fully  convinced  in  his  own  mind  that  the  trouble  was  not  with 
the  boys,  but  with  their  overseer.  When  he  found  the  same 
scene  enacted  on  the  succeeding  day,  he  quietly  remarked  to 
this  man,  that  he  would  grant  him  a  week  longer  to  try  the  ex 
periment  with  his  "  team ; "  if  his  trouble  continued,  he  would 
then  be  discharged.  The  agent  of  the  contractor,  who  defended 
his  man,  was  indignant,  and  confident  that  such  a  course  would 
break  down  the  discipline  of  the  House.  The  Superintendent 
was  decided  and  even  peremptory;  and — the  result  was,  that 
not  a  boy  was  on  the  line  the  next  day,  and  the  work  was 
done. 

As  the  consequence  of  this  simple  and  easily-administered 
system  of  grades,  as  we  have  remarked,  the  necessity  of  corporal 
punishments  has  been  almost  entirely  removed.  The  boy's 
strongest  selfish  interests  cob'perate  with  his  highest  purposes 
to  restrain  him  from  wrong-doing,  and  to  inspire  him  in  the  dili 
gent  discharge  of  his  duty.  Although  there  were  never  before 


308      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Present  and  Past  Statistics. 

this  year  (1868)  so  many  inmates  present  in  the  institution,  and 
particularly  never  more  mature  boys  (indeed,  they  may  be  called 
young  men,  their  ages  ranging  from  seventeen  to  twenty),  there 
never  was  a  period  in  its  history  when  the  requisition  for  a  rigid 
discipline  was  less  urgent,  or  a  better  feeling  prevalent  through 
out  the  whole  establishment. 

Up  to  the  first  of  July,  1868,  twelve  thousand  five  hundred 
and  sixty  children  had  been  received  into  the  House.  During 
the  greater  portion  of  last  year  there  have  been  a  thousand  in 
mates  in  the  two  departments — eight  hundred  boys  and  two 
hundred  girls.  The  largest  number  present  at  one  time  has 
been  one  thousand  and  twenty. 

Last  year  there  were  eight  hundred  and  four  children  re 
ceived,  and  seven  hundred  and  seventy-nine  discharged.  There 
were  nine  hundred  and  seventy-one  present  on  the  first  of  Jan 
uary,  1867.  Between  seventeen  and  eighteen  hundred  different 
children  thus  came  under  the  training  of  the  officers  of  the  House 
during  the  year. 

The  current  expenses  for  the  year  amounted  to  between 
one  hundred  and*  fifteen  and  one  hundred  and  sixteen  thousand 
dollars.  Of  this  amount  the  inmates  earned,  by  their  produc 
tive  labor,  over  fifty-five  thousand  dollars — the  girls  earning 
about  four  thousand  dollars  of  this  sum,  besides  doing  the  usual 
housework  of  their  own  department,  and  the  tailoring,  dress 
making,  mending,  and  washing  for  the  whole  establishment. 
This  is  quite  an  unprecedented  result ;  no  institution  of  reform 
for  children  in  the  world  has  thus  far  even  approached  it,  ex 
cepting  the  sister  institution  at  Rochester.  Every  child,  down 
to  the  youngest  (six  or  seven  years  of  age),  is  employed  a  given 
number  of  hours  daily  in  labor  suited  to  its  age,  health,  and 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE  HALF   CENTURY.  309 

What  becomes  of  the  Inmates  ? 

strength,  and  is  better,  physically,  intellectually,  and  morally,  for 
it.  No  child  has  been  overworked. 

Every  day  but  the  Sabbath,  every  child  has  enjoyed  an 
average  of  four  hours  of  schooling.  In  the  period  of  a  year, 
with  these  opportunities,  besides  the  skill  attained  in  labor,  and 
the  change  in  moral  purposes,  unless  there  is  serious  mental  de 
ficiency,  the  child,  even  if,  as  in  a  majority  of  cases,  it  has  had  no 
previous  opportunity  in  school,  will  have  acquired  ability  to  read, 
write,  and  to  understand  the  fundamental  rules  of  arithmetic. 

It  is  true  that  the  promise  founded  upon  the  good  order  and 
submission  which  our  inmates  exhibit  in  their  workshops,  the 
progress  they  make  in  their  studies,  and  their  attentive  interest 
in  the  religious  services  of  the  Refuge,  is  not  always  realized 
when  they  leave  us.  Some  find  their  way  back  again  through 
the  devious  paths  of  vice,  and  others  become  inmates  of  peniten 
tiaries  and  State  prisons,  but  these  form  only  a  small  proportion 
of  the  number  that  are  saved  from  a  life  of  crime  and  vagabond 
ism.  The  majority  go  forth  to  live  honest  and  faithful  lives. 
In  exceptional  cases  they  reach  positions  of  distinction,  and 
reflect  much  credit  upon  the  institution,  to  which  they  freely 
render  the  tribute  of  gratitude  for  their  redemption. 

During  the  last  year  several  have  commenced  their  studies 
for  the  Christian  ministry,  who  were  indentured  a  few  years 
since  from  the  Refuge.  One  young  man,  in  a  peculiarly  manly 
letter,  recounts  his  pecuniary  arrangements  for  prosecuting  the 
study  of  the  law. 

There  are  two  suggestions  forced  upon  the  convictions  of  the 
managers,  by  their  experience  with  some  of  the  maturer  grad 
uates  of  the  House,  which  they  have  felt  caUed  to  urge  upon  the 
Legislature.  One  is  the  establishment  of  a  training-ship  for  boys 


310      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Report  of  O.  S.  Strong,  Esq. 

in  the  harbor  of  New  York,  under  the  charge  of  the  Board- 
"  The  benefits  of  such  a  step,"  says  the  president  of  the  Society, 
Oliver  S.  Strong,  Esq.  (who,  for  the  period  of  nearly  thirteen 
years,  has  given  daily  attention  to  the  various  interests  of  the 
House,  and  made  himself  familiar  with  the  different  experiments 
in  the  work  of  juvenile  reformation,  both  in  this  country  and  in 
Europe,  and  who  prepared  the  report  for  1847),  "  would  be  very 
great.  Among  the  large  number  committed  to  the  House,  espe 
cially  of  the  older  boys,  there  are  many  possessing  that  bold  and 
adventurous  spirit  which  would  prompt  them  to  choose  the  sea  as 
their  vocation.  After  these  have  undergone  the  discipline  of  the 
House  for  a  year  or  more,  and  have  learned  habits  of  order 
and  self-control,  it  would  be  a  great  advantage  to  them  and  to 
the  country  if  they  could  have  an  opening  afforded  them  in 
the  way  proposed.  It  would  be  good  for  them,  for  they  would 
still  be  under  the  eye  of  the  Society's  officials,  and  be  taught  the 
nautical  profession ;  it  would  be  ecjually  good  for  the  country  as 
an  important  tributary  to  the  navy  and  mercantile  marine.  .  .  . 
The  State  of  Massachusetts  maintains  two  ships  as  a  nautical 
branch  of  the  State  Reform  School  at  Westborough,  but  the 
connection  is  merely  nominal,  the  whole  management  of  the 
ships  being  under  a  separate  Board  of  Trustees.  The  West- 
borough  institution  has  power  to  transfer  boys  to  the  Nautical 
Branch,  but,  to  judge  from  the  reports  thus  far  made,  the  privi 
lege  is  exercised  only  in  the  case  of  a  few.  By  the  Seventh 
Annual  Report  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Nautical  Branch,  it  ap 
pears  that,  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-nine  boys  received,  but  six 
were  transferred  from  the  State  Reform  School,  while  two  hun 
dred  and  forty-two  were  committed  by  the  Courts  fresh  from  the 
streets,  and  without  any  previous  training.  The  confinement 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE   HALF   CENTURY.  31 1 

A  Nautical  Branch,  required. 

and  restraint  within  the  narrow  limits  of  a  ship,  must  necessarily 
be  irksome  to  boys  of  this  class,  and  render  the  task  of  reform 
ing  them  much  more  difficult.  Another  objection  to  this  course, 
both  in  a  pecuniary  and  disciplinary  point  of  view,  arises  from 
the  impossibility  of  introducing  labor  on  shipboard  as  one  of 
the  reformatory  processes,  and  as  a  means  of  diminishing  the 
cost  of  their  support. 

"  The  Massachusetts  ships  receive  inmates  without  regard  to 
the  physical  capabilities  as  well  as  the  inclinations  of  the  boys 
for  a  sea-life,  and  we  find  in  consequence  that  nearly  half  of 
those  discharged  are  returned  to  the  land  to  learn  trades.  In 
this  way  the  nautical  training-,  continued  on  the  average  for 
nearly  a  year  in  each  case,  at  a  heavy  cost  to  the  State,  is  entirely 
thrown  away  upon  those  thus  discharged.  While,  by  the  system 
of  labor  introduced  into  the  House  of  Refuge,  the  net  yearly 
cost  of  each  child  is  reduced  to  a  maximum  of  sixty  dollars,  the 
cost  to  the  State  of  Massachusetts  for  the  same  period,  for  each 
boy  in  the  Nautical  School,  is  more  than  three  times  as  great, 
with  no  reduction  from  the  proceeds  of  labor. 

"  These  statements  are  not  made  in  any  spirit  of  depreciation 
of  the  value  of  the  Massachusetts  school-ships  as  reformatories, 
but  rather  to  show  how  we  may  profit  by  their  experience,  avoid 
the  difficulties  they  have  encountered,  and,  by  making  the  train 
ing-ship  an  adjunct  of  the  House  of  Refuge,  accomplish  a  greater 
amount  of  good,  at  a  less  cost  to  the  public.  The  managers, 
therefore,  propose  that  a  ship  be  placed  under  their  management, 
properly  equipped  for  the  peculiar  service  required,  to  which 
they  will  transfer  such  boys  as  evince  a  natural  aptitude  for  a 
seafaring  life,  after  they  shall  have  undergone  the  reformatory 
discipline  of  the  House,  learned  the  elements  of  education,  and . 


312     A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Something  to  be  done  for  Criminal  Young  Men. 

earned  this  transfer  as  a  promotion  for  good  conduct  and  evi 
dence  of  reformed  dispositions. 

"  The  time  required  for  practice  in  seamanship  and  learning 
navigation  would  probably  not  exceed  three  months ;  and,  as 
habits  of  order  and  subordination  would  already  have  been  ac 
quired,  the  necessity  for  a  severe  discipline  would  not  be  felt. 
They  could  therefore  be  discharged,  as  opportunities  might 
occur,  to  enter  upon  their  career  as  sailors,  and  so  make  room 
for  fresh  accessions  from  the  House.  In  this  way  a  large  num 
ber  of  boys  could  be  prepared  for  sea  on  board  one  ship,  at  a 
comparatively  small  cost  per  capita.  The  managers  do  not  pro 
pose  to  restrict  the  benefits  of  the  training-ship  to  the  inmates 
of  the  House  of  Refuge,  but  to  extend  them  to  candidates  from 
other  reformatories  in  this  State,  possessing  the  same  qualifica 
tions  required  in  their  own  boys." 

The  second  suggestion  refers  to  "  numbers  of  young  men  (to 
whom  reference  has  so  often  been  made)  beyond  the  age  of  six 
teen,  that  may  be  still  found  in  our  prisons  and  penitentiaries, 
serving  their  terms  of  sentence  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period, 
who  are  thus  shut  out,  both  by  the  disgrace  incurred  and  the 
demoralizing  influences  of  a  penal  institution,  from  all  hopes  of 
reformation  and  of  a  better  life.  Their  hearts  are  yet  suscep 
tible  to  influences  of  a  reforming  nature,  and  if  only  a  hope  be 
held  out  to  them  of  redeeming  themselves  by  an  encouragement 
to  do  right,  they  can  be  elevated  and  reformed,  under  a  proper 
system  of  discipline,  somewhat  analogous  to  that  pursued  in  the 
House  of  Refuge." 

Nothing  can  tend  more  certainly  to  secure  the  most  hardened 
and  desperate  criminals  than  the  present  system  of  short  sen 
tences.  The  young  burglar,  dismissed  from  the  penitentiary, 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE  HALF   CENTURY.  313 

Mr.  Mathew  Davenport  Hill. 

has  no  opening  of  honest  business  before  him,  and  theft 
seems  to  be  the  only  means  left  to  him  to  save  himself  from 
starvation.  In  the  instance  of  such  persons,  where  repeated 
offences  have  been  committed,  how  wise  would  it  be  to  pro 
nounce  upon  them  sentences  limited  only  by  their  probable 
reformation,  and  have  them  placed  where  their  daily  labor  will 
support  themselves  and  perhaps  gather  a  little  capital  upon  which, 
with  a  certificate  of  good  character,  a  place  having  been  found 
for  them,  they  can  begin  life  afresh  under  honest  auspices. 
Some  of  the  soundest  writers  upon  crime  and  its  cure,  men  of 
wide  legal  erudition  and  of  great  experience,  are  giving  utter 
ance  to  such  views  both  in  Europe  and  in  this  country.  They 
do  not  even  shrink  from  saying,  that  if  a  young  man  is  so  help 
lessly  weak,  morally,  that  he  cannot  control  his  propensity  to 
steal  or  to  commit  acts  of  violence,  he  must  be  always  restrained 
of  his  liberty,  for  the  peace  of  society,  just  as  insane  persons 
are  confined,  but  in  comfortable  resorts,  where  his  weak  moral 
powers  will  be  continually  solicited  and  strengthened,  and  where 
he  and  his  dependent  friends  can  have  some  benefit  from  the 
work  of  his  hands.  His  release  is  to  be  determined  by  his  prob 
able  reformation,  and  his  return  to  confinement  will  be  the  pen 
alty  for  a  new  offence. 

Mr.  Mathew  Davenport  Hill,  one  of  the  ablest  criminal 
judges  of  Great  Britain,  for  nearly  thirty  years  Recorder  of 
Birmingham,  said,  as  early  as  1855,  in  a  charge  to  the  grand 
jury  of  that  city :  "  Gentlemen,  if  you  desire,  as  I  most  earnestly 
do,  to  see  this  principle "  (that  of  allowing  convicts  to  earn  a 
diminution  of  sentence  by  good  conduct)  "  universally  adopted, 
3'OiTmust  be  prepared  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  government, 
by  advocating  such  a  change  in  the  law  as  will  enable  those  who 


314      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 

Convicts  to  be  retained  until  reformed. 

administer  the  criminal  justice  of  the  country  to  retain  in  custody 
all  such  as  are  convicted  of  crime,  until  they  have,  by  reliable 
tests,  demonstrated  that  they  have  the  will  and  the  power  to 
gain  an  honest  livelihood  at  large.  You  must  be  content  that 
they  shall  be  retained  until  habits  of  industry  are  formed,  until 
moderate  skill  in  some  useful  occupation  is  acquired,  until  the 
great  lesson  of  self-control  is  mastered ;  in  short,  until  the  con 
vict  ceases  to  be  a  criminal,  resolves  to  fulfil  his  duties  both  to 
God  and  to  man,  and  has  surmounted  all  obstacles  against  carry 
ing  such  resolutions  into  successful  action.  But. as  no  training, 
however  enlightened  and  vigilant,  will  produce  its  intended 
effects  on  every  individual  subjected  to  its  discipline,  what  are 
we  to  do  with  the  incurable  ?  Gentlemen,  we  must  face  this 
question ;  we  must  not  flinch  from  answering,  that  we  propose 
to  detain  them  in  prison  until  they  are  released  by  death.  You 
keep  the  maniac  in  a  prison  (which  you  call  an  asylum)  under 
similar  conditions ;  you  guard  against  his  escape  until  he  is 
taken  from  you,  either  because  he  is  restored  to  sanity,  or  has 
departed  to  another  world.  If,  gentlemen,  innocent  misfortune 
may  and  must  be  so  treated,  why  not  thus  deal  with  incorrigible 
depravity  ?  .  .  .  It  is  my  belief  that  if  long  terms  of  impris 
onment,  even  to  perpetuity,  were  placed  before  the  public  mind 
as  indissolubly  connected  with  the  privilege  to  the  convict  of 
working  out  his  own  redemption  from  thraldom,  by  proving 
himself  fit  for  liberty,  it  would  require  no  great  lapse  of  time  to 
produce  the  change  in  opinion  which  I  contemplate.  Alarm  on 
the  score  of  expense  ought  not  to  be  entertained,  for  two  reasons : 
First,  because  no  unreformed  inmates  of  a  prison,  however  ex 
travagant  its  expenditures  may  be,  cost  the  community  so  much 
as  they  would  do  if  at  large.  This  fact  has  been  so  often  proved 


THE  CLOSE  OF  THE   HALF   CENTURY.  315 

Opinions  of  the  London  Times  and  the  Spectator. 

that  I  must  be  allowed  to  assume  it  as  undeniable.  But  the 
second  reason  is,  that  prisons  may  be  made  either  altogether,  or 
to  a  very  great  extent,  self-supporting." 

It  was  natural  that  such  an  opinion,  from  a  source  command 
ing  so  much  respect,  should  excite  much  discussion  throughout 
the  public  press  of  Great  Britain.  The  London  Times,  gather 
ing  up  the  sober  judgment  of  thoughtful  men  as  the  debate  de 
veloped  the  strength  of  the  argument,  remarked :  "  We  believe 
it  will  be  found  the  cheapest  and  most  politic  course,  as  well  as 
the  most  humane,  to  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  bring  about  the 
reformation  of  criminals,  and  not  to  discharge  them  upon  society 
until  they  are  reformed.  In  desperate  cases  we  must  even  ac 
quiesce  in  the  conclusion  of  imprisonment  for  life."  The  Spec 
tator,  the  ablest  and  most  influential  periodical  in  England,  says, 
upon  the  same  subject,  that  the  detention  of  criminals  until 
their  reformation  "  would  be  justified  upon  the  same  grounds 
that  justify  the  detention  of  the  insane.  As  long  as  they  are 
criminally  disposed,  thay  are  morally  insane,  and  should  be  in 
safe  custody.  As  soon  as  they  have  ceased  to  be  criminally  dis 
posed,  and  become  disposed,  like  ordinary  people,  to  earn  their 
livelihood  in  an  honest  way,  they  are  cured  of  their  insanity  and 
may  safely  go  at  large."  : 

*  Quoted  from  the  Report  upon  Prisons  and  Reformatories,  by  Drs.  Dwight 
and  Wines,  p.  275. 

The  Board  of  Managers  are,  at  the  present  time,  considering  a  plan 
which  will  inaugurate  gradually  a  Division  for  the  discipline  of  young  men 
who  have  commenced  a  life  of  crime. 

The  following  Report  has  just  been  submitted,  at  the  request  of  the  Board, 
for  their  consideration : 

REPORT. 

I.  The  establishment  of  such  a  Division  is  expedient  for  the  following 
reasons  : 


316      A  HALF  CENTURY  WITH  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Committee  of  the  Board  of  State  Charities. 

These  views  indicate  the  direction  that  reform  will  take  as 
the  second  half  century  opens  upon  this  interesting  work.  A 
committee  of  the  Board  of  State  Charities,  in  conference  with 
the  managers  of  the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  De- 
linqents  were  pleased  to  express  their  interest  in  these  sugges 
tions,  and  desire  to  have  them  realized  in  successful  experiments. 

"  Should  the  Legislature,"  the  managers  remark,  "  be  pre- 

1.  To  meet  the  necessities  of  a  limited  portion  of  the  Second  Division, 
who,  after  the  usual  average  of  detention,  still  remain  incorrigible,  and  are 
not  in  a  condition  to  be  discharged,  but  require  a  more  protracted  and  severer 
discipline. 

2.  For  such  mature  boys,  who,  having  been  discharged,  are  returned  by 
the  police  ;  the  discipline  of  the  institution,  as  well  as  of  the  returned  boys, 
requiring  that  they  should  be  subjected  to  a  more  strenuous  training. 

3.  Asa  practicable  and  economical  trial  of  the  experiment  of  attempting 
the  reformation  of  criminal  young  men. 

II.  THE  PROPOSED  PLAN. — 1.  It  is  not  deemed  expedient  at  first  to  attempt 
a  separation  between  the  Second  and  Third  Divisions  as  to  shop,  school, 
dining-room  or  dormitory,  but  to  make  the  distinction  rather  a  moral  and 
penal  one. 

2.  Boys  of  a  long-continued  low  grade  in  the  Second  Division,  and  mature 
boys  returned  to  the  House  for  cause,  shall  be  included  in  the  Third  Division. 

3.  No  boy  shall  be  discharged  from  the  Third  Division  under  two  years, 
unless  he  reach  his  majority,  or  by  a  resolution  of  the  Board  upon  the  recom 
mendation  of  the  Indenturing  Committee. 

4.  After  six  months  of  good  behavior,  the  earnings  of  these  boys  over 
the  cost  of  their  maintenance  shall  be  placed  to  their  credit,  to  be  paid  to 
them  upon  their  discharge  from  the  House. 

•  5.  The  details  as  to  increased  hours  of  labor,  and  as  to  pecuniary  fines 
from  their  credited  earnings  for  bad  behavior,  can  be  most  wisely  arranged 
by  experiment  under  the  supervision  of  the  Indenturing  Committee ;  the  com 
pensation  for  the  work  of  these  boys  can  be  best  established  by  the  Execu 
tive  Committee,  and  the  hours  and  character  of  the  instruction  in  the  schools 
by  the  School  Committee. 

6.  A  full  statement  of  the  plan  may  be  made  to  the  boys  at  an  early  day, 
and  the  Division  go  into  operation  on  the  1st  of  January,  1869;  those  boys 
of  the  Second  Division  that  continue  to  receive  marks  of  dishonor  from  this 
time  to  be  the  first  to  enter  the  new  Division. 


THE  CLOSE   OF  THE  HALF  CENTURY.  317 

The  Additional  Expense  fully  justified. 

pared  to  make  an  experiment  with  this  object  in  view,  they  will 
most  'cheerfully  undertake  to  carry  out  an  act  framed  to  meet 
the  wants  of  this  class  of  young  criminals."  To  this  offer  they 
add  the  very  appropriate  words  of  a  previous  Report :  "  If  these 
suggestions  involve  larger  demands  upon  the  public  treasury 
than  usual,  we  can  only  plead  new  conditions  and  the  necessities 
of  our  situation.  We  would  also  add  that  the  managers  feel  it 
to  be  their  duty  to  state  these  questions  fairly  with  reference  to 
the  public  interests  and  to  those  of  the  institution  they  control." 


APPENDIX.  319 


Description  of  Buildings. 


APPENDIX. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  BUILDINGS. 

THE  House  of  Eefuge  is  located  on  the  easterly  bank  of  tlie  Har 
lem  Eiver,  on  Randall's  Island,  and  directly  opposite  that  portion  of 
the  city  of  New  York  which  is  included  between  One  Hundred  and 
Fifteenth  and  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Streets.  The  buildings 
are  of  brick,  erected  in  the  Italian  style.  The  two  principal  struc 
tures  front  the  river,  and  form  a  facade  nearly  a  thousand  feet  in 
length.  The  line  of  their  fronts  is  exactly  parallel  with  the  city 
avenues.  The  larger  of  the  two  buildings  is  for  the  accommodation 
of  the  boys'  department,  the  other  for  the  girls'.  Other  buildings 
are  located  in  the  rear  of  these,  and  are  enclosed  by  a  stone  wall 
twenty  feet  high'.  A  division  wall,  of  like  height,  separates  the 
grounds  of  the  boys'  department  from  that  of  the  girls',  and  in  each 
department  walls  separate  the  inmates  into  two  divisions. 

The  boys'  house  is  nearly  six  hundred  feet  long.  The  dome-sur 
mounted  portions  are  devoted  to  the  use  of  the  officers ;  the  central 
mass  also  contains  the  chapel ;  while  'the  extreme  portions  contain 
the  hospitals  and  lavatories.  There  are  six  hundred  and  thirty-six 
dormitories,  five  feet  by  seven,  and  seven  feet  high,  in  the  portion 
between  the  centre  and  end  buildings.  In  the  rear  is  the  school  and 
dining-hall  building,  seventy  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  feet. 
A  central  brick  wall  divides  the  building  in  each  story  into  two 
equal  parts,  one  for  each  division.  The  lower  story  is  appropriated 
to  dining-rooms,  and  the  upper  story  to  school-rooms.  In  the  rear 
of  the  school  building  are  the  kitchen  and  bakery,  occupying  a  space 
twenty-five  by  ninety  feet.  The  workshops  are  at  the  northerly 


320  APPENDIX. 


Act  of  Incorporation. 


and  southerly  extremities  of  the  yard,  and  are  e.ach  thirty  by  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  three  stories  high. 

The  girls'  house  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long — the  central 
portion  of  which  contains  the  apartments  of  the  matron,  assistants, 
and  female  teachers,  while  the  wings  contain  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dormitories  for  the  inmates.  In  the  rear,  connected  by  two  corridors 
or  covered  halls,  is  a  building  for  school-rooms  and  dining-halls— the 
hospitals,  sewing-rooms,  and  lavatories  being  at  each  end,  with  the 
laundry  in  the  rear. 

The  whole  establishment  is  supplied  with  Croton  water,  brought 
across  the  Harlem  Eiver  in  a  three  and  one-quarter  inch  lead  pipe. 
Tanks  are  in  the  attics  of  the  principal  buildings,  and  a  reservoir,  one 
hundred  feet  diameter,  located  beyond  the  enclosure,  affords  a  reserve 
for  extraordinary  occasions,  as  well  as  a  plentiful  supply  of  ice  in  the 
whiter. 


II. 

ACT  OF  INCORPORATION,  AND  IMPORTANT  AMEND 
MENTS  AND  ADDITIONS. 

AN  ACT  to  incorporate  the  SOCIETY  FOE  THE  REFOBMATION  OF  JUVE 
NILE  DELINQUENTS,  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

Passed  March  29, 1824. 

WHEEEAS,  by  the  petition  of  several  inhabitants  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  it  is  represented,  that  they  are  desirous  of  establishing  a 
Society  and  House  of  Refuge  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delin 
quents,  in  the  said  city,  and  have  prayed  to  be  incorporated :  There 
fore, 

I.  Be  it  enacted  ly  the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  repre 
sented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  That  all  such  persons  as  now  are  or 
hereafter  shall  become  subscribers  to  the  said  association  pursuant  to 
the  by-laws  thereof,  shall  be,  and  hereby  are  constituted  a  body  cor 
porate  and  politic,  by  the  name  of  "  THE  MANAGEES  OF  THE  SOCIETY 
FOE  THE  REFOEMATION  OF  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS  IN  THE  CITY  OF 
NEW  YOEK,"  and  by  that  name  they  shall  have  perpetual  succession, 
and  be  in  law  capable  of  suing  and  being  sued,  defending  and  being 


APPENDIX.  321 


Act  of  Incorporation. 


defended,  in  all  courts  and  places,  and  in  all  manner  of  actions  and 
causes  whatsoever,  and  may  have  a  common  seal,  and  change  the 
same  at  their  pleasure,  and  shall  be  capable  in  law  by  that  name  and 
style  of  purchasing,  holding  and  conveying  any  estate,  real  or  per 
sonal,  for  the  use  of  said  corporation :  Provided,  That  such  real  estate 
shall  never  exceed  the  yearly  value  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  nor  be 
applied  to  any  other  purposes  than  those  for  which  this  incorpora 
tion  is  formed. 

II.  And  ~be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  estate  and  concerns  of  the 
said  corporation  shall  be  conducted  by  a  Board  of  thirty  Managers, 
to  be  elected  by  a  plurality  of  ballots  of  the  members  resident  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  being  subscribers  as  aforesaid,  and  present  at  such 
election  yearly,  on  the  third  Monday  in  November,  at  such  place  in 
the  said  city,  and  at  such  time  of  the  day  as  the  Board  of  Managers 
may  from  time  to  time  appoint,  and  of  which  public  notice  shall  be 
given,  and  if  any  vacancy  shall  occur  by  the  resignation,  removal,  or 
otherwise,  of  any  one  of  the  said  Board,  the  same  shall  be  filled  for 
the  remainder  of  the  year  by  such  person  or  persons,  being  sub 
scribers  as  aforesaid,  as  the  Board  for  the  time  being,  or  a  major  part 
of  them  shall  appoint ;  and  until  the  election  on  the  third  Monday  in 
November  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-five, 
the  following  persons  shall  compose  the  said  Board  of  Managers,  to 
wit:    Cadwallader  D.  Golden,  John  Griscom,  John  Duer,  Jonathan 
M.  "Wainwright,  Isaac  Collins,  Thomas  Eddy,  Ansel  TV.  Ives,  John 
T.  Irving,  John  E.   Hyde,  Cornelius  Du  Bois,  James  W.  Gerard, 
Joseph  Curtis,  John    Stearns,   Ralph  Olmstead,   Robert  F.  Mott, 
Stephen  Allen,   Henry  I.  "SVykoff,  Samuel  Cowdrey,  John  Targee, 
Arthur  Burtis,  Joseph  Grinnell,  Hugh  Maxwell,  Henry  Mead,  Peter 
A.  Jay,  Gilbert  Coutant,  Cornelius  R.  Duffie,  and  James  Lovett, 
And  it  is  hereby  further  enacted,  that  no  Manager  of  the  said 
Society  shall  receive  any  compensation  for  his  services. 

III.  And  l)e  it  further  enacted,  That  if  the  annual  election  shall 
not  take  place  on  the  stated  day  for  that  purpose,  the  said  corpora 
tion  shall  not  thereby  be  dissolved,  but  the  members  of  said  Board 
shall  continue  in  office  until  a  new  election,  which  shall  be  had  at 
such  time  and  place  and  after  such  notice  as  the  said  Board  shall 
prescribe,  and  in  case  of  an  equality  of  votes  for  any  one  or  more 
persons  as  a  member  or  members  of  the  said  Board  of  Managers,  the 

21 


322  APPENDIX. 


Act  of  Incorporation. 


said  Board  shall  determine  which  of  such  persons  shall  be  considered 
as  elected,  and  such  person  or  persons  shall  take  his  or  their  seats 
and  act  accordingly. 

IY.  And  ~be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  said  Managers  shall  have 
power  in  their  discretion  to  receive  and  take  into  the  House  of  Refuge 
to  be  established  by  them,  all  such  children  as  shall  be  taken  up  or 
committed  as  vagrants,  or  convicted  of  criminal  offences  in  the  said 
city,  as  may  in  the  judgment  of  the  Court  of  General  Sessions  of  the 
peace,  or  of  the  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  in  and  for  the  said 
city,  or  of  the  Jury  before  whom  any  such  offender  shall  be  tried,  or 
of  the  Police  Magistrates,  or  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Alms  House 
and  Bridewell  of  the  said  city,  be  proper  objects ;  and  the  said  Man 
agers  shall  have  power  to  place  the  said  children  committed  to  their 
care,  during  the  minority  of  such  children,  at  such  employments  and 
to  cause  them  to  be  instructed  in  such  branches  of  useful  knowledge 
as  shall  be  suitable  to  their  years  and  capacities ;  and  they  shall  have 
power  in  their  discretion  to  bind  out  the  said  children  with  their 
consent,  as  apprentices  or  servants  during  their  minority,  to  such 
persons  and  at  such  places,  to  learn  such  proper  trades  and  employ 
ments  as  in  their  judgment  will  be  most  for  the  reformation  and 
amendment,  and  the  future  benefit  and  advantage  of  such  children : 
Provided,  That  the  charge  and  power  of  the  said  Managers  upon  and 
over  the  said  children,  shall  not  extend  in  the  case  of  females  beyond 
the  age  of  eighteen  years. 

[See  addition  to  this  section  by  Act  of  April  10,  I860.] 

Y.  And  ~be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  and  singular  the  clauses 
and  provisions  in  the  act,  entitled  "  An  Act  concerning  apprentices 
and  servants,"  relating  to  the  covenants  to  be  inserted  in  the  inden 
tures  of  apprentices  and  servants,  made  by  the  Overseers  of  the 
Poor,  and  the  provisions  of  the  sixth,  ninth,  tenth,  eleventh,  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  sections  of  the  last-mentioned  act,  shall  apply  to  the 
apprentices  and  servants,  and  the  persons  to  whom  they  may  be 
bound,  under  and  by  virtue  of  this  act. 

YI.  And  le  it  further  enacted,  That  the  said  managers  under 
this  act,  may  from  time  to  time  make  by-laws,  ordinances  and  regu 
lations  relative  to  the  management  and  disposition  of  the  estate  and 
concerns  of  the  said  Corporation,  and  management,  government, 
instruction,  discipline,  employment  and  disposition  of  the  said  chil- 


APPENDIX.  323 


Amendments  to  Act. 


dren  while  in  the  said  House  of  Refuge,  or  under  their  care,  not  con 
trary  to  law,  as  they  may  deem  proper,  and  may  appoint  such  officers, 
agents  and  servants  as  they  may  deem  necessary  to  transact  the  busi 
ness  of  the  said  Corporation,  and  may  designate  their  duties;  and 
further,  That  the  said  Managers  shall  make  an  annual  report  to  the 
Legislature,  and  to  the  Corporation  of  the  city  of  New  York,  of  the 
number  of  children  received  by  them  into  the  said  House  of  Eefuge, 
the  disposition  which  shall  be  made  of  the  said  children  by  instruct 
ing  or  employing  them  in  the  said  House  of  Refuge,  or  by  binding 
them  out  as  apprentices  or  servants ;  the  receipts  and  expenditures 
of  said  Managers,  and  generally  all  such  facts  and  particulars  as  may 
tend  to  exhibit  the  effects,  whether  advantageous  or  otherwise,  of 
the  said  Association. 

VII.  And  ~be  it  further  enacted,  That  this  act  shall  be  and  is 
hereby  declared  a  public  act,  and  that  the  same  shall  be  construed  in 
all  courts  and  places  benignly  and  favorably  for  every  humane  and 
laudable  purpose  therein  contained. 

VIII.  And  le  it  further  enacted*,  That  the  Legislature  may  at 
any  time  hereafter,  alter,  modify,  or  repeal  this  act. 

AN  ACT  to  amend  an  Act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Society 
for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in  the  city  of  New 
YorTc,"  passed  March  29,  1824,  and  for  other  purposes. 

Passed  January  28, 1826. 

§  1.  Be  it  enacted  ly  the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  repre 
sented  in  Senate  and  Assembly \  That  the  Managers  of  the  Society 
mentioned  in  the  act  hereby  amended,  shall  receive  and  take  in  the 
House  of  Refuge,  established  by  them  in  the  city  of  New  York,  all 
such  children  as  shall  be  convicted  of  criminal  offences  in  any  city  or 
county  of  this  State,  and  as  may  in  the  judgment  of  the  Court  before 
whom  any  such  offender  shall  be  tried,  be  deemed  proper  objects; 
and  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  said  Managers  in  relation  to  the 
children  which  they  shall  receive  in  virtue  of  this  act,  shall  be  the 
same  in  all  things  as  are  prescribed  and  provided  by  the  act  entitled 
"  An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile 
Delinquents  in  the  city  of  New  York,"  passed  March  29,  1824,  in 
respect  to  children  which  the  said  Managers  have  received,  or  may 


324  APPENDIX. 


Amendments  to  Act. 


receive  in  virtue  of  that  act.     [The  remaining  sections  relate  to  funds 
for  the  support  of  the  institution.] 

II.  Rev.  Stat.  701. 

Chapter  1st,  Title  7,  Section  17. 

§  17.  Whenever  any  person  under  the  age  of  sixteen  years  shall 
be  convicted  of  any  felony,  the  court,  instead  of  sentencing  such  per 
son  to  imprisonment  in  a  State  prison,  may  order  that  he  be  removed 
to  and  confined  in  the  House  of  Eefuge,  established  by  the  Society 
for  the  Keformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in  the  city  of  New 
York ;  unless  notice  shall  have  been  received  from  such  Society,  that 
there  is  not  room  in  such  House  for  the  reception  of  further  delin 
quents. 

[As  amended :  Laws  of  1840,  chap.  100.] 

AN  ACT  to  amend  the  Act  to  incorporate  the  Society  for  the  Reforma 
tion  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

Passed  April  12, 1833. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  YorTc,  represented  in  Senate  and 
Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows  : 

§  1.  Nine  members  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  said  Society 
sTiall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  business,  and  for  the 
performance  of  all  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  board,  except  the 
appointment  and  removal  of  any  officer  of  the  institution,  for  which 
business,  twelve  members  of  the  said  board  shall  constitute  a  quorum. 

AN  ACT  to  amend  an  Act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  create  a  fund  in  aid 
of  the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  for  other  purposes. 
Passed  February  1,  1839. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and 
Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows  : 

§  1.  No  theatre,  circus  or  building,  garden  or  grounds  for  exhibit 
ing  theatrical  or  equestrian  performances  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
shall  be  opened  for  such  exhibitions,  unless  the  manager  or  pro 
prietor  thereof  shall  first,  and  annually,  obtain  from  the  mayor  of 
the  said  city  a  license  therefor,  which  license  the  said  mayor  is 


APPENDIX.  325 


Amendments  to  Act. 


authorized  to  grant,  to  continue  in  force  until  the  first  day  of  May 
next  ensuing  the  grant  thereof;  and  every  manager  or  proprietor, 
neglecting  to  take  out  such  license,  or  consenting  or  allowing  such 
peiiormances  without  first  taking  out  the  same,  and  every  owner  or 
lessee  of  any  building  in  said  city,  who  shall  lease  or  let  out  the  same 
for  the  purpose  of  being  occupied  as  such  theatre  or  circus,  or  build 
ing  for  exhibiting  theatrical  or  equestrian  performances,  or  shall 
assent  that  the  same  be  used  for  the  purposes  aforesaid;  and  the 
same  shall  have  been  so  used  by  any  manager  or  proprietor  thereof 
who  shall  not  have  previously  obtained  such  license,  shall  be  sub 
jected  to  a  penalty  of  five  hundred  dollars  for  every  such  neglect  or 
omission,  which  penalty  the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile 
Delinquents  in  the  said  city,  are  hereby  authorized,  in  the  name  of 
the  people  of  this  State,  to  prosecute,  sue  for  and  recover,  for  the  use 
of  said  society. 

§  2.  The  said  mayor  is  hereby  authorized  to  grant  licenses  for 
said  theatrical  and  equestrian  performances  for  any  term  less  than 
one  year,  and  in  any  case  where  such  license  is  for  a  term  of  three 
months  or  less,  the  said  mayor  is  hereby  authorized  to  commute  for 
a  sum  less  than  said  five  hundred  dollars,  but  in  no  case  less  than 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  a  theatre,  or  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  for  a  circus. 

§  3.  Upon  granting  every  such  license  authorized  by  this  act,  or 
the  act  hereby  amended,  the  said  mayor  shall  receive  from  the  per 
son  to  whom  the  same  shall  be  granted,  the  amount  of  said  license, 
which  amounts,  as  respectively  received  by  him,  shall  be  paid  over 
to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile 
Delinquents  in  the  city  of  New  York,  for  the  use  of  said  Society. 

§  4.  In  case  any  manager  or  proprietor  of  any  theatre,  circus  or 
building,  garden  or  grounds,  for  exhibiting  theatrical  or  equestrian 
performances,  shall  open  or  advertise  to  open,  any  theatre,  circus  or 
building,  garden  or  grounds,  for  any  such  exhibition  or  exhibitions 
in  said  city,  without  first  having  obtained  license  therefor  as  is  pro 
vided  for  by  this  act  or  the  act  hereby  amended,  it  shall,  and  may 
be  lawful  for  the  said  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delin 
quents  in  the  said  city  to  apply  to  the  Chancellor  of  this  State,  or 
the  Vice-Chancellor  of  the  first  circuit,  for  an  injunction  to  restrain 
the  opening  thereof,  until  they  shall  have  complied  with  the  requisi 
tions  of  this  act,  and  the  act  hereby  amended,  in  obtaining  such 


326  APPENDIX. 


Amendments  to  Act. 


license,  and  also  complying  with  such  order  as  to  costs  as  the  Chan 
cellor  or  Vice-Chancellor  may  deem  just  and  proper  to  make,  which 
injunction  may  be  allowed  upon  a  bill  or  petition,  to  be  exhibited  in 
the  name  of  said  Society,  in  the  same  manner  as  injunctions  are  now 
usually  allowed  by  the  practice  of  the  Court  of  Chancery. 

§  5.  Any  injunction  allowed  under  this  act  may  be  served  by 
posting  the  same  upon  the  outer  door  of  the  theatre  or  circus,  or 
building  wherein  such  exhibitions  may  be  proposed  to  be  held,  or  if 
the  same  shall  be  in  a  garden  or  grounds,  then  by  posting  the  same  at 
or  on  or  near  the  entrance-way  to  any  such  place  of  exhibition,  and  in 
case  of  any  proceeding  against  the  manager  or  proprietor  of  any  such 
theatre,  circus  or  building,  or  garden  or  grounds,  as  aforesaid,  it  shall 
not  be  necessary  to  prove  the  personal  service  of  the  injunction,  but 
the  service  hereinbefore  provided  shall  be  deemed  and  held  sufficient. 

§  6.  The  fourth  and  fifth  sections  of  the  act  hereby  amended  are 
repealed. 

§  7.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 

AN  ACT  to  amend  an  Act  entitled  "An  Act  more  effectually  to  pro 
vide  for  common-school  education  in  the  city  of  New  York,  passed 
May  7,  1844." 

Passed  May  11, 1847. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  YorTc,  represented  in  Senate  and 
Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows  : 

§  1.  The  act  entitled  "  An  Act  more  effectually  to  provide  for 
common-school  education  in  the  city  and  county  of  New  York," 
passed  May  7,  1844,  is  hereby  amended  in  the  following  manner: 

The  eleventh  section  of  said  act  shall  be  amended  by  inserting 
after  the  words  "  The  School  of  the  Mechanics'  Society,"  the  words 
"  The  School  of  the  Society  for  the  Eeformation  of  Juvenile  Delin 
quents  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  the  School  of  the  Mechanics' 
Institute." 

§  2.  To  determine  the  shares  of  school  money  to  which  the 
School  of  the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  and  the  School  for  the  Mechanics'  Institute 
shall  be  entitled,  in  accordance  with  the  general  provisions  of  the 
twelfth  section  of  the  act  hereby  amended;  the  average  number  of 
children  who  shall  have  actually  attended  such  school,  without 


APPENDIX.  327 


Support  of  Schools. 


charge,  during  the  preceding  year,  shall  be  ascertained  by  adding 
together  the  number  of  such  children  present  at  each  morning  and 
evening  session  of  said  schools,  and  dividing  the  sum  by  four  hun 
dred  and  eighty,  and  all  the  provisions  of  said  twelfth  section  incon 
sistent  with  this  section  are  hereby  repealed,  so  far  as  they  affect 
the  school  of  the  said  Society  for  the  Eeformation  of  Juvenile  Delin 
quents. 

The  eleventh  section  above  amended  and  the  substitute  for  the 
above  second  section  now  stand  as  sections  twenty-two  and  fifteen 
of  "  An  Act  to  amend,  consolidate  and  reduce  to  one  Act  the  various 
acts  relative  to  the  common  schools  of  the  city  of  New  York,"  passed 
July  3,  1851. 

§  15.  The  said  Board  of  Supervisors  shall  annually  raise  and  col 
lect,  by  tax  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  city  and  county,  a  sum 
of  money  equal  to  the  sum  specified  in  such  notice,  at  the  time  and 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  contingent  charges  of  the  said  city,  and 
county  are  levied  and  collected ;  also  a  sum  of  money  equal  to  one- 
twentieth  of  one  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  the  real  and  personal 
property  in  the  said  city,  liable  to  be  assessed  thereon,  and  pay  the 
same  into  the  city  treasury,  to  be  applied  to  the  purposes  of  common 
schools  in  the  said  city;  and  the  Board  of  Education  shall  apportion 
the  money  so  raised  to  each  of  the  schools  hereafter  provided  for  by 
this  act,  except  the  Free  Academy  and  the  evening  schools,  accord 
ing  to  the  number  of  children  over  four  and  under  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  who  were  actual  residents  of  the  city  and  county  of  New 
York,  at  the  time  of  their  attendance  on  such  schools,  without 
charge,  the  preceding  year ;  and  the  average  shall  be  ascertained  by 
adding  together  the  number  of  such  children  present  at  each  morn 
ing  and  afternoon  session  of  not  less  than  three  hours,  and  dividing 
the  sum  by  four  hundred  and  sixty ;  and  if  any  school  shall  have 
been  organized  since  the  last  annual  apportionment,  the  average  shall 
be  ascertained  by  dividing  by  a  number  corresponding  to  the  actual 
number  of  morning  and  evening  sessions,  of  not  less  than  three  hours 
each,  held  since  the  organization  of  such  school;  and  the  sum  appor 
tioned  to  any  schools,  other  than  the  Ward  Schools,  shall  be  paid  to 
the  Trustees,  Managers  or  Directors  of  such  schools,  respectively,  by 
drafts  on  the  City  Chamberlain,  to  be  signed  by  the  president  and 
clerk  of  said  board,  and  made  payable  to  the  order  of  the  Treasurers 
of  said  Trustees,  Managers  or  Directors. 


328  APPENDIX. 


Schools  entitled  to  Aid. 


OF   THE    SCHOOLS   ENTITLEp    TO    PAETICIPATE    IN    THE   APPORTIONMENT. 

§  22.  The  New  York  Orphan  Asylum  school,  the  Roman  Catho 
lic  Orphan  Asylum  school,  the  schools  of  the  two  half-orphan  asy 
lums,  the  school  of  the  Mechanics'  Society,  the  school  of  the  Society 
for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
the  Hamilton  Free  school,  the  school  for  the  Leake  and  "Watts'  Or 
phan  House,  the  school  connected  with  the  almshouse  of  the  said 
city,  the  school  of  the  Association  for  the  Benefit  of  Colored  Orphans, 
the  schools  of  the  American  Female  Guardian  Society,  the  schools  of 
the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Education  among  Colored  Children, 
the  schools  organized  under  the  act  entitled  "An  Act  to  extend  to 
the  city  and  county  of  New  York,  the  provisions  of  the  general  act, 
in  relation  to  Common  Schools  passed  April  11,  1842,"  or  an  act  to 
amend  the  same  passed  April  18,  1843,  or  an  act  entitled  "An  Act 
more  effectually  to  provide  for  Common  School  Education  in  the 
city  and  county  of  New  York,"  passed  May  7,  1844,  or  any  of  the 
acts  amending  the  same,  and  including  such  Normal  Schools  for  the 
education  of  teachers  as  the  Board  of  Education  may  organize,  and 
the  Normal  School  of  the  Public  School  Society  for  the  education  of 
teachers,  and  such  schools  as  may  be  organized  under  the  provisions 
of  this  act,  shall  be  subject  to  the  general  supervision  of  the  Board 
of  Education,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  participate  in  the  apportion 
ment  of  the  school  moneys  as  provided  for  by  this  act,  but  they  shall 
be  under  the  immediate  direction  of  their  respective  Trustees,  Man 
agers  and  Directors,  as  herein  provided. 

AN  ACT  in  relation  to  the  confinement  of  juvenile  offenders  under 
sentences  of  the  Courts  of  -the  United  States. 

Passed  July  21, 1853. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and 
Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows  : 

§  1.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  respective  keepers  of  the  House 
of  Refuge  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  the  Western  House  of  Refuge, 
to  receive  and  safely  keep  in  their  respective  houses,  subject  to  the 
regulations  and  discipline  thereof,  any  criminal  under  the  age  of  six 
teen  years,  convicted  of  any  offence  against  the  United  States,  sen 
tenced  to  imprisonment  therein  by  any  court  of  the  United  States 
sitting  within  this  State,  until  such  sentence  be  executed,  or  until 


APPENDIX.  329 


Additional  Acts. 


such  convict  shall  be  discharged  by  due  course  of  law ;  the  United 
States  supporting  such  convict  and  paying  the  expenses  attendant 
upon  the  execution  of  such  sentence. 

§  2.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 

AN  ACT  in  relation  to  the  theatres  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
Passed  March  18, 1859. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and 
Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows: 

§  1.  It  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  owner,  lessee,  manager,  agent 
or  officer  of  any  theatre  in  the  city  of  New  York,  to  admit  to  any 
theatrical  exhibition,  held  in  the  evening,  any  minor  under  the  age 
of  fourteen  years,  unless  such  minor  is  accompanied  by  and  is  in  the 
care  of  some  adult  person. 

§  2.  Any  person  violating  the  above  provision  shall  be  guilty  of 
a  misdemeanor,  and  shall  be  liable  to  a  fine,  not  less  than  twenty-five 
dollars  nor  more  than  one  hundred  dollars,  or  imprisonment  for  a 
term  not  less  than  ten  nor  more  than  ninety  days,  for  each  offence. 

§  3.  All  moneys  recovered  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  for 
fines,  shall  be  paid  over  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Society  for  the  Refor 
mation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in  the  city  of  New  York,  for  the 
benefit  of  such  Society. 

AN  ACT  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Society 
for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  passed  March  29,  1824. 

Passed  April  10,  I860— three-fifths  being  present. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and 
Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows  : 

§  1.  The  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Society  for  the 
Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in  the  city  of  New  York," 
passed  March  29,  1824,  is  hereby  amended,  by  adding  to  the  fourth 
section  thereof  the  following  words : 

The  Managers  of  the  said  Society  shall  receive  into  the  house  of 
refuge  established  by  them  in  the  city  of  New  York,  whenever  they 
may  have  room  for  that  purpose,  all  such  children  as  shall  be  taken 
up  or  committed  as  vagrants,  in  any  city  or  county  of  this  State,  and 


330  APPENDIX. 


For  the  Peace  of  the  Sabbath. 


might  now,  if  convicted  of  criminal  offences  in  such  city  or  county, 
be  sent  as  directed  by  law  to  said  house  of  refuge,  if  in  the  judgment 
of  the  court  or  magistrate  by  whom  they  shall  be  committed  as 
vagrants,  the  aforesaid  children  shall  be  deemed  proper  persons  to  be 
sent  to  said  institution.  The  powers  and  duties  of  the  said  Managers 
in  relation  to  the  children  whom  they  shall  receive  in  virtue  of  this 
act,  shall  be  the  same  in  all  things  as  now  provided  by  law  in  case 
of  children  convicted  of  criminal  offences  and  committed  to  the 
charge  of  said  Managers. 

AN  ACT  to  preserve  the  public  peace  and  order  on  the  first  day  of  the 

week,  commonly  called  Sunday. 
Passed  April  17,  I860— three-fifths  being  present. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and 
Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows: 

§  1.  It  shall  not  be  lawful  to  exhibit,  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  commonly  called  Sunday,  to  the  public,  in  any  building,  gar 
den,  grounds,  concert-room  or  other  room  or  place  within  the  city 
and  county  of  New  York,  any  interlude,  tragedy,  comedy,  opera, 
ballet,  play,  farce,  negro  minstrelsy,  negro  or  other  dancing,  or  any 
other  entertainment  of  the  stage,  or  any  part  or  parts  therein,  or  any 
equestrian,  circus  or  dramatic  performance,  or  any  performance  of 
jugglers,  acrobats  or  rope  dancing. 

§  2.  Any  person  offending  against  the  provisions  of  this  law,  and 
every  person  aiding  in  such  exhibition,  by  advertisement  or  other 
wise,  and  every  owner  or  lessee  of  any  building,  part  of  a  building, 
ground,  garden  or  concert-room,  or  other  room  or  place,  who  shall 
lease  or  let  out  the  same  for  the  purpose  of  any  such  exhibition  or 
performance,  or  assent  that  the  same  be  used  for  any  such  purpose, 
if  the  same  shall  be  used  for  such  purpose,  shall  be  guilty  of  a  mis 
demeanor,  and,  in  addition  to  the  punishment  therefor  provided  by 
law,  shall  be  subjected  to  a  penalty  of  five  hundred  dollars,  which 
penalty  the  Society  for  the  Eeformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in 
said  city  are  hereby  authorized,  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  this 
State,  to  prosecute,  sue  for  and  recover  for  the  use  of  said  Society ; 
in  addition  to  which  every  such  exhibition  or  performance  shall  of 
itself  forfeit,  vacate  and  annul  and  render  void  and  of  no  effect,  any 
license  which  shall  have  been  previously  obtained  by  any  manager, 


APPENDIX.  331 


Regulating  Public  Amusement. 


proprietor,  owner  or  lessee,  consenting  to,  causing  or  allowing,  or 
letting  any  part  of  a  building  for  the  purpose  of  such  exhibition  and 
performance. 

§  3.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 


Chapter  281. 

AN  ACT  to  regulate  places  of  public  amusement  in  the  cities  and 

incorporated  villages  of  this  State. 
Passed  April  17, 1863— three-fifths  being  present. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and 
Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows: 

§  1.  It  shall  not  be  lawful  to  exhibit  to  the  public  in  any  build 
ing,  garden,  or  grounds,  concert-room,  or  other  place  or  room,  within 
the  city  of  New  York  any  interlude,  tragedy,  comedy,  opera,  ballet, 
play,  farce,  negro  minstrelsy,  negro  or  other  dancing,  or  any  other 
entertainment  of  the  stage,  or  any  part  or  parts  therein,  or  any 
equestrian,  circus,  or  dramatic  performance,  or  any  performance  of 
jugglers  or  rope  dancing,  acrobats,  until  a  license  for  such  exhibition 
shall  have  been  first  had  and  obtained  pursuant  to  and  at  the  same 
rate  provided  for  theatrical  performance  in  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act 
to  amend  an  act  entitled  an  act  to  create  a  fund  in  aid  of  the  Society 
for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
and  for  other  purposes,  passed  February  first,  eighteen  hundred  and 
thirty -nine,*'  and  every  manager  or  proprietor  of  any  such  exhibition 
or  performance,  who  shall  neglect  to  take  out  such  license,  or  con 
sent  to,  cause  or  allow  any  such  exhibition  or  performance,  or  any 
single  one  of  them,  without  such  license,  and  every  person  aiding  in 
such  exhibition  and  every  owner  or  lessee  of  any  building,  part  of  a 
building,  garden,  grounds,  concert-room,  or  other  room  or  place, 
who  shall  lease  or  let  the  same  for  the  purpose  of  any  such  exhibi 
tion  or  performance,  or  assent  that  the  same  be  used  for  any  such 
purpose  except  as  permitted  by  such  license  and  without  such  license 
having  been  previously  obtained  and  then  in  force,  if  the  same  shall 
be  used  for  such  purpose,  shall  incur  the  penalties  and  be  subjected 
to  the  proceedings  for  an  injunction  provided  for  by  the  other  pro 
visions  contained  in  the  said  act,  which  penalty  the  Society  for  the 
Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents,  in  said  city,  are  hereby  author- 


332  APPENDIX. 


Licenses  revoked  for  Breach  of  Statute. 


ized  to  prosecute,  sue  for,  and  recover  for  the  use  of  the  said  Society, 
in  the  name  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

§  2.  It  shall  not  be  lawful  to  sell  or  furnish  any  wine,  beer,  or 
strong  or  spirituous  liquors  to  any  person  in  the  auditorium  or  lob 
bies  of  such  place  of  exhibition  or  performance  mentioned  in  the  first 
section  of  this  act,  or  in  any  apartment  connected  therewith,  by  any 
door,  window,  or  other  aperture ;  nor  shall  it  be  lawful  to  employ  or 
furnish  or  permit  or  assent  to  the  employment  or  attendance  of  any 
female,  to  wait  on  or  attend  in  any  manner,  or  furnish  refreshments 
to  the  audience  or  spectators,  or  any  of  them,  at  any  of  the  exhibi 
tions  or  performances  mentioned  in  the  first  section  of  this  act,  or  at 
any  other  place  of  public  amusement  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

§  3.  No  license  shall  be  granted  for  any  exhibition  or  perform 
ance  given  in  violation  of  the  second  section  of  this  act,  and  any  and 
every  exhibition  or  performance  at  which  any  of  the  provisions  of 
the  second  section  of  this  act  shall  be  violated,  shall  of  itself  vacate 
and  annul  and  render  void  and  of  no  effect  any  license  which  shall 
have  been  previously  obtained  by  any  manager,  proprietor,  owner  or 
lessee  consenting  to,  causing  or  allowing  or  letting  any  part  of  a 
building  for  the  purpose  of  such  exhibition  and  performance;  and 
any  license  provided  for  by  the  first  section  of  this  act,  may  be 
revoked  and  annulled  by  the  officer  or  officers  granting  the  same, 
upon  proof  of  a  violation  of  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  act.  Such 
proof  shall  be  taken  before  such  officer  upon  notice  of  not  less  than 
two  days,  to  show  cause  why  euch  license  should  not  be  revoked ; 
said  officer  shall  hear  the  proofs  and  allegations  in  the  case,  and 
determine  the  same  summarily;  and  no  appeal  shall  be  taken  or 
review  be  had  from  such  determination.  And  any  person  whose 
license  shall  have  been  revoked  or  annulled,  shall  not  thereafter  be 
entitled  to  a  license  under  the  provisions  of  this  act.  On  any  exami 
nation  before  an  officer  pursuant  to  a  notice  to  show  cause  as  afore 
said,  the  accused  party  may  be  a  witness  in  his  own  behalf. 

§  4.  Any  person  violating  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  or 
employing  or  assenting  to  the  employment  or  attendance  of  any  per 
son  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of 
a  misdemeanor,  and  upon  conviction,  shall  be  punished  by  imprison 
ment  in  the  penitentiary  for  a  term  not  less  than  three  months  nor 
more  than  one  year,  or  by  a  fine  not  less  than  one  hundred  dollars 
nor  more  than  five  hundred  dollars,  or  by  both  such  fine  and  im 
prisonment. 


APPENDIX.  333 


Managers  divided  into  Classes. 


§  5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  every  Chief  of  Police,  Sheriff,  Deputy 
Sheriff,  Constable,  Captain  of  Police,  Policeman,  and  every  other 
police  officer,  to  enter  at  any  time  said  places  of  amusement,  and 
to  arrest  and  convey  any  person  or  persons  violating  any  provision 
of  this  act,  forthwith,  before  any  Police  Justice,  or  Recorder,  or 
Magistrate,  having  jurisdiction  in  said  city,  there  to  be  dealt  with 
according  to  law. 

§  6.  The  provisions  of  this  act  shall  apply  to  all  the  cities  and 
incorporated  villages  of  this  State,  but  the  license  to  be  obtained  in 
every  city  or  incorporated  village,  other  than  the  city  of  New  York, 
shall  be  issued  under  such  terms,  and  under  such  regulations,  as  the 
municipal  authorities  of  the  said  cities  or  villages  may  respectively 
prescribe  ;  and  the  fines  and  penalties  for  any  violation  of  any  of  the 
provisions  of  this  act,  in  such  other  cities  or  incorporated  villages, 
respectively,  other  than  as  mentioned  in  section  four  of  this  act,  shall 
be  sued  for  and  recovered  in  the  name  of  the  Overseer  of  the  Poor 
of  such  city  or  incorporated  village,  or  the  town  in  which  such  incor 
porated  village  is  situate,  or  such  other  officer  as  the  municipal  or 
village  authorities  thereof  may  direct,  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor 
thereof. 

§  7.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 

AN  ACT  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  incorporate  tlie  Society 
for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in  the  city  of  New 
York,"  passed  March  29,  1824. 

Passed  March  22, 18G5— three-fifths  being  present. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and 
Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows: 

§  1.  The  Managers  of  the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile 
Delinquents  shall,  as  soon  as  conveniently  may  be  after  the  next 
annual  election  of  the  Society,  arrange  themselves  into  three  classes 
of  ten  each,  to  be  determined  by  lot,  to  serve  respectively  one,  two, 
and  three  years ;  and  at  every  subsequent  election,  at  the  expiration 
of  the  terms  thus  designated,  ten  persons  shall  be  chosen  as  Managers 
to  serve  for  the  term  of  three  years ;.  any  vacancy  that  may  occur  in 
any  class  daring  the  term,  of  service  of  said  class  may  be  filled  by  the 
Board  of  Managers  for  the  unexpired  portion  of  said  term. 

§  2.  The  fourth  section  of  the  act  entitled  "An  Act  to  incor- 


334  APPENDIX. 


Amendment  in  reference  to  Disorderly  Children. 


porate  the  Society  for  the  Eeformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in 
the  city  of  New  York,"  passed  March  29,  1824,  is  amended,  by  strik 
ing  out  the  following  words :  "  Provided  that  the  charge  and  power 
of  the  said  Managers  upon  and  over  the  said  children  shall  not  extend 
in  the  case  of  females  beyond  the  age  of  eighteen  years."/ 

§  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  all  courts  and  magistrates,  by  whom 
any  juvenile  delinquent  shall  be  committed  or  sent  to  the  House  of 
Eefuge  in  the  city  of  New  York,  to  ascertain  the  age  of  such  delin 
quent  by  such  proof  as  may  be  in  their  power,  and  to  insert  such  age 
in  the  order  of  commitment,  and  the  age  thus  ascertained  shall  be 
deemed  and  taken  to  be  the  true  age  of  such  delinquent. 

§  4.  In  cases  where  the  age  of  the  delinquent  so  committed  is  not 
so  ascertained  and  inserted  in  the  order  of  commitment,  the  said 
Managers  shall,  as  soon  as  may  be  after  such  delinquent  shall  be 
received  by  them,  ascertain  the  age  of  such  delinquent  by  such  proof 
as  may  be  in  their  power,  and  cause  the  same  to  be  entered  in  a 
book  to  be  designated  by  them  for  that  purpose,  and  the  age  thus 
ascertained  shall  be  deemed  and  taken  to  be  the  true  age  of  such 
delinquent. 

§  5.  All  children  under  the  age  of  sixteen  in  the  several  counties, 
which  are  now  or  hereafter  shall  be  designated  by  law  as  the  coun 
ties  from  which  juvenile  delinquents  shall  be  sent  to  the  House  of 
Eefuge  in  the  city  of  New  York,  deserting  their  homes  without  good 
and  sufficient  cause,  or  keeping  company  with  dissolute  or  vicious 
persons  against  the  lawful  commands  of  their  fathers,  mothers,  guar 
dians,  or  other  persons  standing  in  the  place  of  a  parent,  shall  be 
deemed  disorderly  children. 

§  6.  Upon  complaint  made  on  oath  to  any  Police  Magistrate  or 
Justice  of  the  Peace  against  any  child  within  his  county,  under  the 
age  of  sixteen,  by  his  or  her  parent  or  guardian,  or  other  person 
standing  to  him  or  her  in  place  of  a  parent,  as  being  disorderly,  such 
Magistrate  or  Justice  shall  issue  his  warrant  for  the  apprehension  of 
the  offender,  and  cause  him  or  her  to  be  brought  before  himself  or 
any  other  Police  Magistrate  or  Justice  of  the  said  county  for  exami 
nation. 

§  7.  If  such  Magistrate  or  Justice  be  satisfied,  by  competent  tes 
timony,  that  such  person  is  a  disorderly  child  within  the  description 
aforesaid,  he  shall  make  up  and  sign  a  record  of  conviction  thereof, 
and  shall,  by  warrant  under  his  hand,  commit  such  person  to  the 


APPENDIX.  335 


Judicial  Opinions. 


House  of  Kefuge  established  by  the  Managers  of  the  Society  for  the 
Eeformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in  the  city  of  New  York ;  and 
the  powers  and  duties  of  the  said  Managers  in  relation  to  the  said 
children  shall  be  the  same  in  all  things  as  are  prescribed  as  to  other 
juvenile  delinquents  received  by  them :  Provided,  however,  that  any 
person  committed  under  this  act  shall  have  the  same  right  of  appeal 
now  secured  by  law  to  persons  convicted  of  criminal  offenses ;  but 
on  any  such  appeal  mere  informality  in  the  issuing  of  any  warrant 
shall  not  be  held  to  be  sufficient  cause  for  granting  a  discharge. 
§  8.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 


III. 
JUDICIAL  OPINIONS. 

SUPREME  COURT. 


Opinion,  December,  1859. 


THE  PEOPLE,  &c.,  ON  THE  PETITION  ON 

BEHALF  OF  THOMAS  TOBANS 

against 

THE  GOVEENOES  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REF 
UGE. 

A.  B.  JAMES,  J.  : 

A  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  issued  on  the  petition  of  the  father  of 
Thomas  Tobans,  directed  to  the  Governors,  &c.,  of  the  House  of 
Refuge,  commanding  them  to  produce  the  body  of  said  Thomas,  &c., 
was  served  upon  the  officers  of  that  institution,  to  which  they  re 
turned,  that  at  the  time  of  the  allowance  of  said  writ,  the  said 
Thomas  was  not,  nor  had  he  at  any  time  since  been,  nor  was  he  now, 
in  the  possessson  or  custody,  or  under  their  control,  power  or 
restraint,  or  by  them  restrained  of  his  liberty ;  that  the  said  Thomas, 
in  August,  1857,  was  convicted  as  a  vagrant,  and  committed  to  the 
House  of  Refuge;  that  he  was  received  under  such  commitment, 
being  a  minor,  and  remained  until  April,  1858,  when  he  was  placed 
by  the  managers  of  said  institution  at  employment  with  Wesley 
McDowell,  of  Lexington,  Illinois ;  but  that  no  indentures  of  appren- 


336  APPENDIX. 


Opinion  of  Justice  James. 


ticesliip  had  been  executed  ;  and  hence  the  respondents  were  unable 
to  produce  the  body  of  said  Thomas,  as  commanded  by  said  writ. 

S.  H.  STEWAET,  for  Petitioner. 

II.  A.  OEAM,  for  Respondents. 

The  only  question  presented  for  consideration  is,  the  sufficiency 
of  the  excuse  offered  by  the  return  for  the  non-production  of  the 
body  of  Thomas  Tobans. 

The  truth  of  the  return  not  being  controverted,  it  appears  that 
the  respondents  had  not,  at  the  time  of  granting  the  writ,  nor  at  any 
time  since,  the  custody  or  possession  of  the  person  named;  and 
although  they  had  such  custody  at  a  time  long  prior  to  the  granting 
of  such  writ,  it  does  not  appear  that  such  custody  was  parted  with 
in  bad  faith,  or  for  the  purpose  of  unlawfully  restraining  the  said 
Thomas  of  his  liberty,  or  of  evading  the  command  of  said  writ. 

It  is,  however,  insisted  by  counsel  that  the  excuse  is  wholly  insuf 
ficient  ;  that  the  transfer  of  said  Thomas  to  McDowell  was  wholly 
without  authority,  illegal  and  void  ;  that  the  Managers  of  the  House 
of  Refuge,  by  the  terms  of  their  charter,  could  only  put  the  said 
Thomas  to  employment  within  the  provisions  of  that  institution,  or 
bind  him  out  to  some  farmer  residing  within  the  State;  and  that 
having  sent  him  beyond  the  State,  they  should  be  compelled  to  pro 
duce  him,  in  answer  to  the  command  of  the  writ. 

The  statute  of  1824  authorized  the  Managers  of  the  House  of 
Eefuge  to  receive  children  convicted  of  vagrancy,  and  gives  power  to 
place  them,  during  their  minority,  at  .employment  suitable  to  their 
years  and  capacities,  and  in  the  discretion  of  said  Managers,  with  the 
consent  of  said  children,  to  bind  them  out  as  apprentices,  servants,  &c. 

The  legal  rights  of  the  respondents,  therefore,  to  place  the  said 
Thomas  at  employment,  is  clear,  and  the  question  of  binding  him 
was  a  matter  wholly  in  their  discretion. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  act  limiting  the  employment  of  such 
children  to  the  provisions  of  said  institution,  or  their  binding  out  to 
persons  residing  within  the  State. 

Such  a  construction  would  greatly  circumscribe  the  institution  in 
its  efforts  to  care  for  the  well-being  of  those  committed  to  its  charge, 
without  benefiting  any  one. 

The  statute  wisely  gives  to  the  Board  of  Managers  a  broad  dis 
cretion  in  the  matter,  leaving  to  their  determination  the  kind  of 


APPENDIX.  337 


Opinion  of  Justice  Scrugham. 


employment  and  instruction,  the  persons  with  whom,  and  the  place 
where,  it  shall  be  given;  and  I  can  see  no  security  of  its  being 
limited  to  this  city  or  this  State,  so  long  as  the  future  well-being  of 
the  child  is  considered,  if  suitable  persons  can  be  found  out  of  the 
State  who  will  take  charge  of  them.  I  see  no  legal  objection  to 
their  selection. 

In  this  case,  the  respondents  made  a  lawful  disposition  of  Thomas. 
For  aught  that  appears  or  is  pretended,  he  is  in  the  care  and  custody 
of  a  proper  and  suitable  person.  He  is  not  now,  nor  was  not  at  the 
time  of  granting  the  said  writ,  in  the  possession  of  the  respondents ; 
and  this  being  so,  the  excuse  for  the  non-production  of  the  body  is 
sufficient,  and  the  writ  should  be  discharged. 


SUPREME  COURT— KINGS  COUNTY. 


THE  PEOPLE,  ex  Tel.  THOMAS  HOEY 

April,  1860. 
iHE  bTJPEEINTENDENT  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF 

REFUGE. 

"W.  H.  SCETJGHAM,  Justice: 

The  return  to  this  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  made  by  the  Superin 
tendent  of  the  House  of  Eefuge,  on  Randall's  Island,  and  states  that 
Joseph  Hoey  is  held  and  detained  there  by  the  Managers,  on  the 
authority  of  a  warrant  of  commitment  which  is  annexed  to  said 
return,  and  which  recites  the  conviction  of  the  said  Joseph  Hoey,  on 
the  day  of  its  date,  of  petit  larceny,  before  James  H.  Cornell,  Esq., 
Police  Justice  of  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  sitting  as  a  Court  of  Special 
Sessions. 

The  return  is  objected  to  on  the  ground  that  it  is  not  verified, 
and  that  the  Superintendent  of  the  House  of  Refuge  is  not  a  sworn 
public  officer. 

I  will  allow  the  return  to  be  amended  in  that  respect. 

The  prisoner  had  the  right  on  the  return  of  the  writ  to  deny  on 
oath  any  of  the  material  facts  set  forth  in  the  return,  or  allege,  on 
oath,  any  fact  to  show  either  that  his  imprisonment  or  detention  is 
unlawful,  or  that  he  is  entitled  to  his  discharge,  and  thereupon  evi- 


138  APPENDIX. 


Failure  to  file  Certificate  of  Conviction. 


dence  could  have  been  offered  in  support  of  and  against  his  deten 
tion  :  but  -failing  to  make  such  sworn  denial  or  allegation,  I  mu  st 
regard  the  facts  stated  in  the  return  as  true. 

They  are  certainly  sufficient  to  justify  the  detention  of  Hoey,  and 
the  statute  makes  it  my  duty  to  remand  him  to  the  House  of  Refuge. 

Upon  the  argument,  the  conviction  of  Hoey,  as  set  forth  in  the 
return,  was  not  denied,  and  in  the  petition  for  the  writ  and  upon  the 
argument  it  was  stated  on  behalf  of  the  prisoner,  and  admitted  by 
the  respondent,  that  no  certificate  of  this  conviction  was  ever  filed  in 
the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  King's  county,  pursuant  to  sec.  67,  title  3, 
chap.  2,  part  4,  E.  S.,  5th  ed.,  and  it  was  claimed  on  behalf  of  the 
prisoner  that  he  was  therefore  entitled  to  his  discharge. 

It  cannot  be  contended  that  the  filing  of  this  certificate  is  neces 
sary  to  the  perfection  of  the  judgment.  The  judgment  of  the  court 
follows  in  its  sentence  immediately  after  the  conviction,  and  is  imme 
diately  put  in  execution  by  the  commitment ;  while  by  the  statute 
the  certificate  need  not  be  filed  until  twenty  days  after  the  convic 
tion,  and  if  it  were  intended  that  this  should  be  necessary  to  perfect 
the  judgment,  it  would  undoubtedly  have  been  provided  that  no 
commitment  should  issue  until  such  certificate  should  be  filed ;  for  it 
would  be  manifestly  improper  to  allow  a  judgment  to  be  put  in  exe 
cution  before  it  was  perfected. 

The  Court  of  Special  Sessions  is  not  a  Court  of  Record,  and  in 
the  absence  of  this  statute  its  judgment  would  require  the  same 
proof  as  is  required  of  the  judgment  of  other  Courts  not  of  Record. 
It  was,  among  other  things,  to  avoid  the  trouble  and  inconvenience 
of  this  method  of  proof  that  this  provision  was  made  requiring  a  cer 
tificate  to  be  filed  and  allowing  it  to  be  evidence  of  the  facts  stated 
therein. 

It  is  not  declared  that  it  shall  be  the  only  evidence  of  those  facts, 
nor  can  it  be  regarded  as  any  thing  more  than  a  convenient  substitute 
for  the  primary  or  best  evidence  of  them,  and  such  evidence  would 
be  received  to  prove  them  as  well  as  the  certificate. 

The  omission  to  file  the  certificate  was  a  neglect  of  duty  on  the 
part  of  the  magistrate,  which,  if  wilful,  would  subject  him  to  pun 
ishment  as  for  a  misdemeanor,  but  it  cannot  invalidate  the  judgment 
of  the  Court  of  Special  Sessions  held  by  him. 

To  hold  otherwise  would  be  to  determine  that  a  judgment  in  a 
criminal  case,  duly  and  properly  rendered,  is  to  be  annulled,  and  a 


APPENDIX.  339 


Opinions  of  Governors. 


prisoner  undergoing  sentence  thereon  to  be  discharged,  merely  be 
cause  the  magistrate  who  held  the  court  in  which  such  judgment 
was  rendered  afterward  neglected  a  duty,  the  performance  or  omis 
sion  of  which  could  in  nowise  affect  the  regularity  or  justice  of  the 
conviction. 


OPINIONS  OF  GOVEENOES  OF  THE  STATE  UPON  THEIR  EIGHT 
TO  PAEDON  INMATES  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  EEFUGE. 

EXTRACTS    OF  LETTERS. 

October  V,  1839. 

As  the  Board  of  Commissioners  (Managers)  exercise 

the  power  of  discharging  persons  from  the  House  of  Refuge,  con 
victed  of  offences  less  than  felony,  I  shall  very  cheerfully  refer  appli 
cations  to  them  unless  there  be  extraordinary  circumstances,  which 
shall  seem  to  justify  a  different  course. 

(Signed)  WM.  H.  SEWAED. 


May,  1843. 

In  reply  to  a  letter  from  Hon.  Stephen  Allen,  then  President  of 
the  Board  of  Managers,  stating  that  "  the  removal  by  pardon,  of  the 
delinquent  children  placed  in  the  care  of  the  Managers,  will  not  only 
be  attended  with  great  injury  to  the  children,  but  will  destroy  the 
corrective  influence  of  the  institution  upon  those  who  remain,"  &c., 

&c.     Gov.  Bouck  says  : In  the  mean  time  I  wish  to 

assure  you  of  my  willingness  to  cooperate  in  rendering  the  institu 
tion,  over  which  you  preside,  effective  and  useful.  I  have  granted  a 
few  pardons  to  those  confined  in  the  Refuge,  under  impressions  that 
the  law  authorized  it.  I  will,  however,  examine  the  subject  and 
apprise  you  of  the  course  I  shall  feel  it  my  duty  to  pursue. 

(Signed)  WM.  C.  BOTJCK. 

All  applications  subsequently  made  to  Gov.  Bouck  were  referred 
by  him  to  the  Managers. 

June  26,  1845. 

I  have  been  studying  the  law  too  in  relation  to 

these  subjects  of  that  prison,  and  I  cannot  determine  from  my  pres 
ent  researches,  what  they  are  in  a  legal  sense,  how  to  consider  them 
or  how  they  are  to  be  got  out,  when  once  put  there.  I  have  ascer- 


340  APPENDIX. 


Governors  Wright  and  Fish. 


tained  from  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  that  they  are  not 
considered  subjects  for  the  exercise  of  the  pardoning  power,  for  there 
has  never  been  a  pardon  issued  for  one  of  them.  They  cannot  there 
fore  have  been  considered  convicts  in  a  legal  sense.  I  conclude  they 
must  be  considered  as  apprentices  to  the  Corporation  and  subject 
solely  to  the  disposition  of  the  Managers  within  the  terms  of  their 

act  of  incorporation  and  the  laws  modifying  it 

(Signed)  SILAS  "WEIGHT. 

October  4,  1845. 

If  not  in  positive  conflict  with  your  rules  and  what 

you  consider  your  legal  powers,  I  hope  you  will  find  in  the  circum 
stances  of  this  case,  an  inducement  to  comply  with  the  suggestions 
made  by  the  Recorder  of  Buffalo,  and  which  it  seems  had  the  appro 
bation  of  the  other  judges  and  of  the  jury,  which  pronounced  the 
verdict  against  these  very  juvenile  offenders.  .  ...  If  my 
feelings  are  urging  me  to  ask  of  you  what  it  is  improper  that  you 
should  do  or  what  is  against  your  positive  rules  or  your  settled  con 
viction  of  your  legal  powers,  I  trust  you  will  pardon  me  upon  the 
assurance  that  I  am  not  conscious  that  such  is  the  character  of  my 
request.  If,  on  the  contrary,  there  shall  be  no  such  objections,  then 
I  hope  you  will  permit  me  again  to  urge  your  patient  examination 
of  the  case  as  presented  by  the  recorder,  before  you  reject  our  joint 

applications 

(Signed)  SILAS  WEIGHT. 

December  30,  1846. 

All  these  papers  satisfy  me  that  you  are  better 

able  to  dispose  of  this  young  lad  safely  and  justly  than  I  am  or  can 
be,  and  as  I  have  issued  no  pardon  in  any  case  to  the  House  of  Ref 
uge,  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  begin  at  this  late  period  of  my  official 

life 

(Signed)  SILAS  WEIGHT. 

October  10,  1849. 

The  Managers  of  the  House  of  Refuge  have  the  power  to  dis 
charge  those  committed  to  them.    I  have  referred  the  case  of  your 

two  boys  to  them,  with  a  special  request,  &c.,  &c 

(Signed)  HAMILTON  FISH. 


APPENDIX.  341 


Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania. 


January  17,  1853. 

I  have  ascertained  that  I  was  mistaken  in  suppos 
ing  that  I  had  the  power  of  discharging  convicts  from  the  House  of 
Eefuge.    I  am  satisfied  Governor  Wright's  decision  is  correct.     .     . 
(Signed)  HORATIO  SEYMOUR. 

June  23,  1857. 

I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  authority 

of  the  Managers  of  the  House  of  Eefuge  over  children  under  their 
care,  should  not  he  interfered  with  or  embarrassed,  by  any  act  of 
the  Executive  of  the  character  referred  to  (pardon),  but  should  be 
left  free  to  carry  out  the  clear  and  laudable  purposes,  for  which  these 
institutions  were  founded.  I  erred  therefore  in  granting  pardon  to 

K,  &c.,  &c. 

(Signed)  JOHX  A.  KING. 


DECISION  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUET  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 
DECEMBER  TEEM,  1838. 

[Ex  parte  Grouse. — Habeas  Corpus.] 

PHILADELPHIA,  January  3,  1839. 

PER  CURIAM. — The  House  of  Eefuge  is  not  a  prison,  but  a  school ; 
where  reformation,  and  not  punishment,  is  the  end.  It  may,  indeed,  be 
used  as  a  prison  for  juvenile  convicts  who  would  else  be  committed  to 
a  common  jail;  and  in  respect  to  these,  the  constitutionality  of  the 
act  which  incorporated  it,  stands  clear  of  controversy.  It  is  only  in 
respect  of  the  application  of  its  discipline  to  subjects  admitted  on  the 
order  of  a  court,  a  magistrate,  or  the  managers  of  the  Almshouse, 
that  a  doubt  is  entertained.  The  object  of  the  charity  is  reformation, 
by  training  its  inmates  to  industry ;  by  imbuing  their  minds  with 
principles  of  morality  and  religion ;  by  furnishing  them  with  means 
to  earn  a  living ;  and,  above  all,  by  separating  them  from  the  corrupt 
ing  influence  of  improper  associates.  To  this  end,  may  not  the  natu 
ral  parents,  when  unequal  to  the  task  of  education,  or  unworthy  of  it, 
be  superseded  by  the  parens  patrice,  or  common  guardian  of  the  com 
munity  ?  It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  the  public  has  a  paramount 
interest  in  the  virtue  and  knowledge  of  its  members,  and  that,  of 
strict  right,  the  business  of  education  belongs  to  it.  That  parents  are 


342  APPENDIX. 


The  Eight  of  House  of  Kefuge  over  Inmates. 


ordinarily  intrusted  with  it,  is  because  it  can  seldom  be  put  into  better 
hands ;  but  where  they  are  incompetent  or  corrupt,  what  is  there  to 
prevent  the  public  from  withdrawing  their  faculties,  held,  as  they 
obviously  are,  at  its  sufferance  ?  The  right  of  parental  control  is  a 
natural,  but  not  an  unalienable  one.  It  is  not  excepted  by  the  decla 
ration  of  rights  out  of  the  subjects  of  ordinary  legislation ;  and  it 
consequently  remains  subject  to  the  ordinary  legislative  power, 
which,  if  wantonly  or  inconveniently  used,  would  soon  be  constitu 
tionally  restricted,  but  the  competency  of  which,  as  the  government 
is  constituted,  cannot  be  doubted.  As  to  abridgment  of  indefeasible 
rights  by  confinement  of  the  person,  it  is  no  more  than  what  is  borne, 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  in  every  school ;  and  we  know  of  no  natu 
ral  right  to  exemption  from  restraints  which  conduce  to  an  infant's 
welfare.  Nor  is  there  a  doubt  of  the  propriety  of  their  application 
in  the  particular  instance.  The  infant  has  been  snatched  from  a 
course  which  must  have  ended  in  confirmed  depravity ;  and,  not  only 
is  the  restraint  of  her  person  lawful,  but  it  would  be  an  act  of  extreme 
cruelty  to  release  her  from  it. 
Remanded. 

OPINION. 

In  all  civil  societies  the  individual  members  are  held  to  a  strict 
obedience  to  the  laws.  They  are  presumed  to  be  acquainted  with 
whatever  is  enjoined  upon  them  as  a  social  duty,  and  they  are  pun 
ished  for  a  disregard  or  violation  of  it.  This  principle  of  accounta 
bility  is  essential  to  the  prosperity  and  even  the  existence  of  society, 
and  as  a  general  rule,  it  exacts  compliance  and  conformity  from  every 
individual.  In  its  practical  application,  however,  the  rule  is  not  uni 
versal.  Many  persons  are  partially  exempt  from  its  operation,  and 
not  a  few  are  entirely  beyond  its  reach.  A  rigid  enforcement  of  the 
principle  alluded  to,  implies  the  existence  both  of  capacity  and  free 
agency  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  its  objects.  If  either  the  ability 
to  judge  or  the  means  to  exercise  a  sound  judgment  be  wanting,  ac 
countability  is  no  longer  imputed  to  the  individual,  or  obedience  ex 
acted  from  him  under  the  sanctions  which  generally  apply.  Persons 
who  are  thus  exempt  from  the  ordinary  operations  of  the  laws  are 
subject  necessarily  to  provisions  which  are  peculiar  to  themselves. 
As  they  are  not  liable  to  the  consequences  of  their  own  conduct,  it 
is  indispensable  for  the  good  of  others  as  well  as  themselves  that 


APPENDIX.  343 


Grounds  of  Eight  to  assume  Custody  of  a  Child. 


their  conduct  should  be  regulated  and  restrained.  These  regulations 
and  restraints  have  been  at  all  times  applied  with  peculiar  interest 
and  care  to  persons  of  immature  age.  Contracts  made  by  them  are 
either  considered  of  no  binding  force  whatever,  or  are  governed  by 
rules  which  give  them  only  a  beneficial  operation.  Even  as  to  crimes 
they  are  regarded  with  great  indulgence ;  an  indulgence  which 
amounts  to  entire  impunity  if  the  capacity  for  deception  be  un 
formed.  When  very  young  they  are  also  placed  under  restrictions 
that  are  unqualified  and  absolute ;  and  during  the  whole  period  of 
non  age  they  are  the  subjects  of  provisions  which,  if  applied  to  other 
persons  would  be  tyrannical  or  unjust.  Parents,  guardians  and  mas 
ters  exercise  an  authority  of  this  description.  No  one  can  doubt  the 
propriety  of  it  in  its  particular  application,  founded  as  it  is,  in  an  ob 
vious  necessity,  and  dictated  by  a  kind  and  tender  consideration  for 
incompetency  to  self-control,  and  consequent  proneness  to  error.  The 
greater  or  less  degree  of  restraint  which  is  imposed  by  these  Super 
intendents  of  youth  must  depend  upon  circumstances,  and  cannot  be 
made  the  subject  of  any  precise  estimate.  As  long  as  it  is  governed 
by  a  regard  to  the  best  interests  of  the  young,  it  has,  perhaps,  no 
other  limits,  and  must  be  in  its  character  discretionary  with  those  by 
whom  it  is  exercised. 

It  may  frequently  happen  that  none  of  the  relations  which  have 
been  mentioned  exist.  It  does  not,  however,  therefore  follow,  that 
the  children  who  are  without  them  must  be  either  unprotected  or 
unrestrained.  Their  condition  as  respects  both  capacity  and  prone- 
ness  to  error  is  the  same,  whether  they  have  the  good  fortune  to  be 
connected  with  natural  or  legal  guardians,  or  are  unhappily  destitute 
of  both.  Society  is  not  to  be  exposed  to  the  consequences  of  their 
present  feebleness  and  freedom  from  restraint ;  they  themselves  are 
not  to  be  exposed  to  the  enduring  evils  of  ignorance  and  idleness 
merely  because  of  an  accidental  and  unfortunate  deficiency.  On  the 
contrary,  the  various  evils  to  which  they  are  exposed  are  the  rather 
to  be  guarded  against,  because  the  deficiency  exists,  and  the  de 
ficiency  itself  is  to  be  anxiously  supplied.  Children  in  the  condition 
supposed  are  thrown  upon  society  at  large  for  their  guardians  ;  and 
no  system  can  be  at  all  adequate  to  the  exigencies  of  society,  unless 
special  provision  is  made  for  them  by  the  laws.  Such  laws  as  are 
enacted  for  the  mutual  protection  of  themselves  and  others  are  wise 
and  salutary  in  their  design  ;  and  if  they  are  imperfect  or  injurious 


344  APPENDIX. 


House  of  Eefuge  in  loco  parentis. 


in  application,  it  is  only  because  their  execution  and  details  do  not 
conform  to  the  theory  and  intention  which  it  is  their  object  to  effec 
tuate. 

The  establishment  of  a  House  of  Eefuge  ought  to  be  entirely 
agreeable  to  the  principles  which  have  been  adverted  to.  It  pro 
fesses  to  exercise  simply  the  salutary  influence,  which  the  condition 
and  incapacity  of  those  who  are  its  objects  would  seem  to  require : 
to  provide  a  substitute  for  parental  authority  and  superintendence, 
which  have  been  either  lost  by  misfortune  or  forfeited  by  miscon 
duct  :  to  apply  a  system  of  prevention  and  care  to  those  who,  from 
their  peculiar  situation,  are  without  the  advantages  in  these  respects 
which  others  enjoy.  The  laws  which  have  been  enacted  by  the 
Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  have  purely  these  ends  in  view.  They 
are  similar  in  design,  and  only  an  improvement  in  their  results  to 
those  which  almost  every  community  has  found  itself  under  the 
necessity  of  providing  for  in  the  shape  of  poor  laws :  which  are,  in 
truth,  liable  to  all  the  objections  substantially,  which  are  made  to 
those  on  which  a  House  of  Eefuge  is  founded. 

It  is  mainly  objected,  as  I  understand,  to  the  law  in  question,  that 
punishment  is  inflicted  without  the  ordinary  preliminaries  of  trial  and 
conviction.  Into  this  the  principal  difficulties  resolve  themselves, 
which  have  forced  their  way  into  the  minds  of  persons  of  high  intel 
ligence.  The  error  on  which  the  objection  is  founded  is  twofold. 
First,  in  supposing  that  the  mere  commission  of  crimes  is  the  reason 
for  admission  into  the  house ;  and  secondly,  in  imputing  to  the  con 
sequences  of  that  admission  the  character  and  name  of  punishment. 
An  individual  who  is  certified  to  be  a  proper  subject  for  the  discipline 
of  the  house,  is  only  brought  into  view  on  the  particular  occasion, 
because  he  has  done  something  wrong.  His  condition  was  such  in 
dependently  of  his  fault,  as  to  require  the  discipline  and  care  of  the 
establishment.  The  crime  he  has  committed  is  satisfactory  proof  of 
his  condition  and  requirements.  It  manifests  his  unfitness  for  self- 
government,  and  the  absence  or  abuse  of  domestic  authority  and  in 
fluence.  Where  this  state  of  things  is  apparent,  there  is  a  correspond 
ing  necessity  no  less  obvious  for  the  interposition  and  exercise  of  that 
paternal  superintendence  which,  in  the  abstract,  resides  at  all  times 
in  the  source  of  all  authority,  although  the  practical  use  of  it  is  re 
served  for  extraordinary  occasions.  In  some  countries  this  sovereign 
authority  is  vested  in  the  king.  "With  us  it  belongs  to  the  people. 


APPENDIX.  345 

Opinion  of  J.  R.  Ingersoll. 

An  exercise  of  it  cannot  be  safer  or  more  salutary  than  when  it  is 
confided  to  the  agents  of  the  representatives  of  the  people,  under 
such  limitations  as  the  law,  in  its  wisdom,  may  provide.  It  is  not  in 
place  here  to  dwell  on  the  superior  kindness  and  humanity  which 
would  dictate  an  omission  to  convict,  and  consequently  to  degrade 
and  render  infamous,  or  the  cruelty  of  an  unnecessary  exposure  of 
young  persons  to  so  fatal  a  result.  On  principles  of  mere  municipal 
and  constitutional  law,  there  is  a  clear  right  to  provide  for  the  educa 
tion  and  improvement  of  the  young :  and  in  the  attainment  of  these 
great  objects  all  the  assistance  that  can  be  derived  from  discipline 
and  restraint  in  the  due  and  wholesome  exercise  of  them  is  within 
the  limits  of  that  authority  conferred  by  the  Constitution  on  the 
Legislature. 

What  real  difference  is  there  between  the  power  thus  necessarily 
exercised  through  the  medium  of  the  law,  and  that  which  parents 
and  their  ordinary  substitutes  are  in  the  constant  habit  of  resorting 
to  ?  Every  child  that  is  sent  to  school  is  obliged  to  submit  to  a  dis 
cipline  which  is  more  or  less  rigid,  according  to  the  rules  of  the  estab 
lishment  or  the  temper  of  the  scholar.  Sometimes  it  is  vastly  more 
severe  than  that  of  a  house  of  refuge.  Probably  all  the  boys  who 
are  placed  on  board  of  ships  are  subjected  to  regulations  more  strict, 
to  a  confinement  more  unrelenting,  to  a  course  of  discipline  in  every 
way  more  stern.  Does  it  render  the  act  of  the  parent  or  guardian 
illegal,  that  the  particular  kind  of  instruction  and  restraint  has  been 
appealed  to,  because  of  particular  evil  propensities  or  positive  mis 
conduct  on  the  part  of  the  child? 

It  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  these  institutions  for  the  welfare 
of  the  young,  that  no  punishment  whatever  is  inflicted  for  any  thing 
that  may  have  happened  before  their  admission  into  the  house.  In 
stead  of  being  subjected  to,  they  are  saved  from  punishment.  Past 
crimes  are  forgotten,  and  future  ones  are  prevented.  The  mode  in 
which  these  important  objects  are  accomplished  by  the  laws  of 
Pennsylvania,  is,  in  my  opinion,  perfectly  consistent  with  the  true 
principles  of  civil  government,  with  a  strict  regard  to  the  liberty  of 
the  citizen,  with  an  entire  deference  to  parental  authority,  and  with 
the  constitution  of  Pennsylvania  and  its  general  system  of  jurispru 
dence.  J.  R.  INGEKSOLL. 

WASHINGTON,  January  27,  1835. 


346  APPENDIX. 


Opinion  of  John  Sergeant. 


I  concur  in  the  above  opinion.  My  only  regret  is,  that  my  en 
gagements,  since  the  application  was  made  to  me,  have  not  allowed 
me  time  to  put  my  views  upon  paper,  but  I  have  not  the  less  con 
fidence  in  the  opinion  on  that  account.  The  subject  has  long  been 
familiar  to  my  thoughts,  and  I  have  never  doubted  the  constitutional 
competency  of  the  Legislature  to  make  the  law,  nor  the  constitutional 
validity  of  the  law  that  has  been  made.  Extreme  cases  may,  indeed, 
be  suggested,  when  the  exercise  of  such  a  power  would  become 
odious  and  inadmissible.  I  have  heard  arguments  against  the  power 
of  the  Legislature  founded  upon  the  possibility  of  abuse.  But  it 
must  be  assumed,  in  general,  and  it  may  be  safely  assumed  in  the 
present  case,  that  the  object  is  truly  and  bona  fide  what  it  professes 
to  be.  Namely,  a  pure  purpose  of  policy  and  benevolence,  embracing 
not  less  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  the  individuals  over  whom 
the  control  is  exercised,  than  the  general  interests  of  society,  and 
just  as  essential  to  the  one  as  to  the  other.  Thus  understood,  I  can 
not  persuade  myself  that  there  is  any  doubt  of  the  constitutional 
power  of  the  Legislature  to  establish  the  interesting  institution 
which  has  proved  itself  to  be  so  valuable  a  charity. 

JOHN  SERGEANT. 
WASHINGTON,  January  27,  1835. 


In  the  Supreme  Bench 
of  Baltimore  City. 


THE  HOUSE  OF  KEFUGE 

w. 

THE  STATE  OF  MARYLAND, 
ON    THE   RELATION    OF    MAETIN   ROTH. 

Upon  the  motion  of  the  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE  to  have  heard  and  determined  in  this 
Court  a  matter  of  law  decided  in  the  Baltimore  City  Court. 

The  motion  in  this  case  standing  ready  for  hearing,  was  argued 
by  counsel  for  the  parties,  and  the  proceedings  have  since  been  con 
sidered.  And  it  appearing  to  this  Court,  for  reasons  set  out  in  the 
opinion  herewith  filed,  that  there  is  error  in  matter  of  law  in  the 
judgment  of  the  Baltimore  City  Court,  rendered  in  this  case  on  the 
thirty-first  day  of  December,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-seven.  It 
is  thereupon,  on  this  fifth  day  of  February,  in  the  year  eighteen  him- 


APPENDIX.  347 


Supreme  Bench  of  Baltimore  City. 


dred  and  sixty-eight,  by  the  Supreme  Bench  of  Baltimore  City, 
adjudged  and  ordered  that  the  said  judgment  be,  and  the  same  is 
hereby  reversed.  GEOEGE  "W.  DOBBIN, 

HENEY  F.  GAEEY, 
ROBT.  GILMOK,  JK. 


THE  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE 

In  the  Supreme  Bench 


THE  STATE  OF  MAEYLAND, 
ON  THE    RELATION    OF  MAETIN    ROTH. 


of  Baltimore  City. 


Upon  tJie  motion  of  the  HOUSE  OF  KEFUGE  to  have  heard  and  determined  in  this 
Court  a  matter  of  law  decided  in  the  Baltimore  City  Court. 

The  matter  of  law  which  the  House  of  Refuge  asks  to  have 
reheard  and  determined  in  this  Court,  arose  and  was  decided  in  an 
application  for  the  release,  by  habeas  corpus,  of  Frank  Roth,  the 
son  of  the  relator,  who  was  held  as  an  inmate  of  the  House  of 
Refuge,  upon  a  commitment  by  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  under  the 
18th  section  of  the  78th  article  of  the  Public  General  Code.  The 
boy  was  committed  on  the  complaint  of  his  father,  "that  he  had 
rendered  his  control  beyond  the  power  of  his  father  by  reason  of  his 
own  incorrigible  conduct ;  and  had  made  it  manifestly  requisite  that, 
from  regard  for  the  morals  and  future  welfare  of  said  minor,  and  the 
peace  and  order  of  society,  he  should  be  placed  under  the  guardian 
ship  of  the  Managers  of  the  House  of  Refuge."  The  commitment  is 
in  the  very  words  of  the  Code  prescribing  the  manner  of  receiving 
inmates  into  the  House  of  Refuge,  and  gratifies  in  all  particulars  the 
first  of  the  modes  therein  prescribed  ;  the  justice  also,  in  attempted 
but  very  meagre  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  the  20th  sec 
tion,  annexed  to  the  commitment,  the  statement  that  the  testimony 
of  Henry  Yeager,  proved  the  boy  to  be  one  of  the  same  depredators 
and  thieves  prowling  around  and  stealing.  Upon  the  hearing,  the 
boy  was  discharged  by  the  Court,  upon  the  ground  that  the  commit 
ment  by  the  justice  was  a  trial  and  conviction  of  the  boy  for  crime, 
without  indictment,  and  without  a  jury,  in  violation  of  the  21st  and 
23d  articles  of  the  Declaration  of  Rights ;  and  that  so  much  of  the 


348  APPENDIX. 


Matter  of  Law  decided  in  Baltimore  City  Court. 


provisions  of  the  78th  article  of  the  Code  as  professes  to  give  such 
authority  to  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  is  in  violation  of  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  State,  and  is  utterly  null  and  void.  It  was  stated  in  the 
argument  of  the  present  motion,  that  it  is  with  no  special  wish  to 
retain  this  particular  boy  as  an  inmate  of  the  House  of  Eefuge,  that 
its  managers  now  ask  to  have  this  case  reconsidered,  and  that  except 
for  the  desirableness  of  this  reconsideration,  they  would  willingly 
acquiesce  in  the  remanding  of  this  boy  to  the  custody  of  his  father  ; 
but  the  decision  of  the  Baltimore  City  Court  so  deeply  affects  the 
usefulness  of  the  institution  as  a  reformatory  asylum  (whose  place  is 
not  supplied  by  any  other  institution  in  the  State),  that  they  feel  it 
to  be  their  duty,  in  the  discharge  of  the  important  philanthropic  trust 
committed  to  them,  to  ask  that  that  decision,  made  by  a  single  judge, 
should  be  reviewed,  and  passed  upon  by  the  whole  Supreme  Bench. 
We  also  are  impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  case  considered,  with 
reference  to  the  interests  of  other  benevolent  institutions  of  like  char 
acter,  by  the  declaration  of  the  counsel  for  the  relator,  that  since  the 
pendency  of  this  case,  he  has  had  an  application  to  take,  by  habeas 
corpus,  from  the  care  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society,  a  little  girl  of 
eight  years  of  age,  now  under  the  charge  of  that  institution.  Im 
pressed  with  the  importance  of  these  considerations,  this  Court  could 
not  hesitate  to  give  to  this  motion  a  prompt  and  patient  hearing,  and, 
after  the  assistance  derived  from  elaborate  and  learned  arguments, 
they  have  brought  to  the  determination  of  the  case  their  most  con 
siderate  judgment.  The  motion  gives  rise  to  two  inquiries  :  the  first 
having  reference  to  the  jurisdiction  of  this  court  to  review  the  de 
cision  of  a  matter  of  law  decided  in  a  habeas  corpus  case  in  any  of 
the  courts  of  original  jurisdiction  in  the  City  of  Baltimore ;  and  the 
second,  involving  the  consideration  of  the  constitutionality  of  the 
provisions  of  the  code  under  which  this  boy  was  committed  to  the 
House  of  Refuge.  The  constitution  of  this  court  being  new  to  our 
judicial  system,  it  is  to  be  expected  that,  until  it  shall  have  a  body 
of  precedent  to  guide  its  action,  questions  of  jurisdiction  will  be  of 
frequent  occurrence.  The  solution  of  these  questions  must  be  sought 
for  alone  in  the  33d  section  of  the  4th  article  of  the  Constitution; 
for,  though  in  the  argument  we  were  referred  to  our  own  rules  as  a 
measure  of  our  powers,  it  is  too  obvious  to  need  discussion,  that  we 
have  no  authority  whatever  either  to  enlarge  or  abridge  the  limits 
prescribed  to  us  in  the  Constitution.  In  construing  any  new  statutory 


APPENDIX.  349 


Question  as  to  Jurisdiction  of  the  Court. 


or  constitutional  provision,  it  is  a  wise  rule  to  have  respect  to  the 
state  of  things  existing  under  the  antecedent  law,  in  order  to  see 
what  change  was  desirable,  and  how  the  new  enactment  may  af 
fect  it. 

In  this  retrospect  we  find  that,  under  our  late  judicial  system,  as 
applicable  to  the  City  of  Baltimore,  there  existed  five  independent 
courts,  of  separate,  and  in  most  respects,  dissimilar  jurisdiction,  each 
presided  over  by  one  judge,  and,  however  eminent  and  able  each  of 
such  judges  might  be  individually,  no  provision  was  made  by  which 
the  suitor  and  the  public  could  have  the  benefit  of  their  united  de 
liberation  and  judgment.  The  consequence  was,  that  the  law  pro 
nounced  in  one  court  was  repudiated  in  another ;  and  the  suitor,  in 
choosing  his  forum,  could  also,  in  some  sense,  determine  his  law. 
This  evil  was  so  apparent,  that  in  one  instance,  involving  the  proper 
construction  of  a  clause  in  the  Constitution,  affecting  a  large  class  of 
cases,  and  great  public  considerations,  in  which  the  Superior  Court 
had  determined  the  question  in  one  way,  and  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  in  another,  the  Court  of  Appeals  felt  it  due  to  the  public  in 
terests  to  express  its  opinion  on  the  point  in  a  case  where  it  was  not 
necessary  to  be  determined,  and  placed  its  departure  from  the  usual 
rule  of  decision  upon  the  ground  of  the  public  inconvenience  and 
injury  arising  from  this  diversity  of  judgment.  (State  vs.  Mace,  5  Md.) 

For  the  adjudication  of  the  important  interests  of  this  populous 
commercial  city,  a  system  which  admitted,  and  indeed,  looking  at  the 
frowardness  of  human  judgment,  almost  encouraged,  this  diversity 
of  judgment,  was  deemed  unsuitable  and  inadequate,  and  accordingly 
the  present  scheme  was  devised,  by  which,  whilst  the  number  of 
courts  is  continued,  and  their  separate  efficiency  in  the  dispatch  of 
business  is  promoted,  by  apt  provisions  for  mutual  assistance  and 
interchange  of  labor,  and  for  the  division  of  the  mass  of  business 
among  them,  its  chief  merit  was  supposed  to  lie  in  the  fact,  that  the 
five  judges,  in  their  united  capacity  of  the  Supreme  Bench,  were 
charged  with  the  duty  of  making  rules  for  them,  so  as  to  secure  uni 
formity  of  practice,  and  with  the  hearing  and  determining  contro 
verted  points  of  law,  so  as  to  insure  harmony  of  decision. 

The  language  of  the  Constitution,  by  which  this  latter  duty  is 
imposed,  is  as  follows:  "It  shall  also  have  jurisdiction  to  hear  and 
determine  all  motions  for  a  new  trial  in  cases  tried  in  any  of  said 
courts,  when  such  motions  arise  either  on  questions  of  fact,  or  for 


350  APPENDIX. 


An  Appeal  in  a  Habeas  Corpus  not  an  Abridgment  of  Liberty. 


misdirection  upon  any  matters  of  law,  and  all  motions  in  arrest  of 
judgment,  or  upon  any  matter  of  law  determined  by  the  said  judge 
or  judges  while  holding  said  several  courts."  It  will  thus  be  per 
ceived,  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  is  of  a  twofold  character : 
it  is  original,  so  to  speak,  in  motions  for  a  new  trial  when  such 
motions  arise  on  questions  of  fact,  and  on  motions  in  arrest  of  judg 
ment  ;  and  it  is  appellate  upon  motions  for  a  new  trial,  when  such 
motions  are  based  upon  misdirection  upon  matters  of  law,  and  upon 
motions  upon  any  matter  of  law  determined  by  the  judge  or  judges, 
while  holding  said  several  courts. 

These  several  subjects  of  jurisdiction  have  a  distinctly  recognized 
legal  meaning,  and  we  have  no  difficulty  in  determining  that  the 
present  motion,  which  asks  for  a  new  trial  upon  the  ground  of  mis 
take  of  law,  and  misdirection  of  law,  in  the  order  of  the  Baltimore 
City  Court,  cannot  be  entertained  by  us  as  a  motion  for  a  new  trial, 
that  form  of  motion  being  only  applicable  to  the  rehearing  of  a  case 
which  has  been  tried  before  a  jury.  But  the  motion  also  asks  us  to 
revise  and  determine  the  matter  of  law  decided  in  the  Baltimore  City 
Court,  and  this  brings  us  to  the  consideration,  whether  this,  being  a 
case  of  habeas  corpus,  in  which,  heretofore,  in  this  State,  no  appeal 
has  been  allowed,  is  now,  under  the  terms  used  in  the  Constitution, 
and  under  the  construction  we  must  give  to  these  terms,  in  view  of 
the  evils  they  were  supposed  to  remedy,  and  the  benefits  they  were 
intended  to  confer,  brought  within  the  reviewing  and  appellate  juris 
diction  of  this  court. 

It  was  argued  before  us,  with  great  earnestness,  that  the  allow 
ance  of  an  appeal  in  a  habeas  corpus  case  is  an  encroachment  upon 
the  liberty  of  the  citizen.  This,  we  think,  is  taking  a  narrow  and 
restricted  view  of  the  value  of  that  aim  of  remedial  justice,  which 
is  intended  to  secure  a  deliberate  trial,  and  a  well-considered  judg 
ment.  The  petitioner  for  the  benefit  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
may,  indeed,  rejoice  in  the  finality  of  the  judgment  which  liberates 
him ;  but  what  would  be  the  opinion  of  the  same  petitioner,  if  the 
judgment  chanced  to  be  against  him,  and  especially  if  it  turned  upon 
some  controverted  or  doubtful  point  of  law.  No  reference  need  be 
made,  beyond  a  mere  suggestive  allusion,  to  the  value,  in  fawrem 
libertatis,  of  an  appeal  in  times  of  high  political  excitement,  when 
partisan  judges  may  refuse  the  benefits  of  the  writ,  under  the  in 
fluence  of  corrupt  motives,  and  in  utter  disregard  of  the  principles 


APPENDIX.  351 


Grounds  of  this  Opinion. 


of  law  and  liberty.  The  liberty  of  the  citizen  is  but  protected  by 
giving  to  him,  as  matter  of  right,  a  refuge  from  the  fallibility  of  any 
single  tribunal ;  and  in  every  enlightened  system  of  laws,  such  a  re 
sort  is  furnished  in  all  cases,  except  where  the  trivial  nature  of  the 
thing  in  controversy,  or  the  preponderating  convenience  of  the  pub 
lic,  renders  an  appeal  undesirable.  It  furnishes  no  reply  to  the  argu 
ment  which  maintains  the  desirableness  of  an  appeal,  to  say  that  its 
place  is  supplied  by  the  fact,  that  the  judgment  of  one  judge  is  not 
conclusive  upon  another,  and  a  petitioner  may  apply  to  any  number 
of  judges  in  succession,  since  it  is  now  well  recognized  to  be  the  law 
and  practice  applicable  to  the  writ :  that  after  a  case  has  been  once 
acted  upon,  the  subsequent  application  ceases  to  be  one  of  right,  and 
becomes  a  mere  matter  of  discretion — so  that,  at  the  very  time  when 
the  necessity  for  the  demand  of  an  appeal,  ex  debito  justicia,  may  be 
most  apparent,  weak  and  timid  judges,  fearful  of  responsibility  and 
mindful  only  of  their  own  or  their  party's  interests,  may,  without 
incurring  the  censure  of  violating  the  law,  take  refuge  under  the  for 
mer  judgment,  and  refuse  the  application  as  res  adjudicata.  (Ex 
parte  Lawson,  5  Bin.,  304 ;  Ex  parte  Campbell,  20  Ala.,  89.)  Our 
own  Court  of  Appeals  has  said  :  "  Very  strong  reasons  should  be  re 
quired  to  induce  the  Court  to  refuse  a  party  the  benefit  of  an  appeal ; 
and  any  interference  with  the  right,  wherever  it  exists,  must  be  upon 
strong  grounds,  and  a  clear  manifestation  on  the  part  of  the  Legisla 
ture,  that  they  designed  to  withdraw  it."  (Williams  vs.  Williams, 
7  Gill,  304.) 

The  same  reasoning  will  apply  with  equal  cogency  and  force  to 
the  giving  an  appeal  in  every  instance  in  which  the  case,  from  its 
nature,  will  admit  of  an  appeal,  without  detriment  to  the  cause 
of  justice,  and  the  convenience  of  the  public,  and  when  the  Legis 
lature  have  used  such  terms  as  will  admit  the  appeal.  The  in 
quiry  naturally  arises,  then,  does  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  present 
such  a  case  that  an  appeal  may  be  given  without  injury  to  the 
cause  of  justice,  and  the  convenience  of  the  public  ?  If  we  consider 
the  writ  as  we  have  been  long  accustomed  to  do,  as  the  inestimable 
privilege  of  a  free  people,  and  the  best  safeguard  of  personal  liberty, 
surely,  then,  any  provision  of  law  which  tends  to  secure  the  just  and 
well-considered  application  of  its  benefits,  increases,  rather  than  di 
minishes,  its  nature.  If  it  be  the  refuge  of  the  oppressed,  to  be 
cherished  in  the  proportion  that  it  affords  him  speedy  and  impartial 


352  APPENDIX. 


No  Novelty  in  the  Law. 


justice,  its  true  value  must  be  measured  by  the  certainty  that  he  will 
be  able  to  obtain  justice  when  he  makes  the  appeal.  Now,  it  re 
verses  the  whole  theory  of  the  administration  of  justice  to  say  that, 
in  the  proportion  that  you  give  the  suitor  an  opportunity  to  have  his 
case  reviewed,  you  diminish  his  chances  of  obtaining  justice  ;  nor  is 
there  any  thing,  in  the  mode  of  administering  justice  by  the  usual 
practice  under  the  writ,  wrhich  makes  an  appeal  impracticable  or 
greatly  inconvenient,  especially  when  the  appeal  is  based  upon  the 
determination  of  a  matter  of  law,  as  in  this  case. 

It  is  no  novelty  in  the  law,  that  an  appeal  in  habeas  corpus  should 
be  allowed,  as  it  is  granted  with  the  same  freedom  as  in  other  cases 
in  some  of  the  States,  as  in  New  York,  Virginia,  Florida,  South  Car 
olina,  Mississippi,  Texas,  and  Ohio,  and  is  especially  provided  for  in 
the  recent  statutes  of  the  United  States,  giving  the  benefits  of  the 
writ,  and  prescribing  the  practice  under  it.  It  is  there  enacted,  that 
"from  the  final  decision  of  every  judge,  justice,  or  court,  inferior  to 
the  Circuit  Court,  an  appeal  may  be  taken  to  the  Circuit  Court  of 
the  United  States  for  the  district  in  which  the  said  cause  is  heard  ; 
and  from  the  judgment  of  the  said  Circuit  Court  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  upon  such  terms,  and  under  such  regu 
lations  and  orders,  as  well  for  the  custody  and  appearance  of  the 
party  alleged  to  be  restrained  of  his  or  her  liberty,  as  for  sending  up 
to  the  appellate  tribunal  a  transcript  of  the  petition,  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  return  thereto,  and  other  proceedings,  as  may  be  prescribed 
by  the  Supreme  Court,  or  in  default,  as  the  judge  hearing  the  said 
cause  may  prescribe,"  etc. 

Nowhere  are  two  successive  appeals  given  in  cases  of  habeas 
corpus,  and  a  mode  provided  by  which  the  whole  case,  both  in  law 
and  in  fact,  may  be  presented  to  the  appellate  tribunals. 

If  this  be  a  practical  and  expedient  method  as  applied  to  the  suc 
cessive  appeals  by  which  the  cause  finally  reaches  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  and  presents  to  the  review  of  each  Court,  in 
succession,  both  the  facts  and  the  law,  why  may  not  a  similar  prac 
tice  be  adopted  by  us,  especially  in  the  limited  appeal  claimed  by  this 
motion,  of  having  only  the  matter  of  law  determined  in  the  Balti 
more  City  Court  reviewed  and  determined  ? 

It  does  not  seem  to  have  been  considered  by  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  that  the  inconvenience  and  delay  incident  to  the  prac 
tice  in  habeas  corpus,  which  they  have  prescribed,  abridges  the  liberty 


APPENDIX.  353 


Argument  stronger  in  reference  to  Supreme  Bench  of  Baltimore. 

of  the  citizen  in  any  degree  commensurate  with  the  advantage  it 
gives  him  in  having  his  cause  thoroughly  tried,  and  the  judgment 
therein  well  considered ;  though  the  Supreme  Court  sits  but  once  a 
year,  and  at  a  place  which  may  be  remote  from  that  in  which  the 
cause  arose.  How  little,  then,  in  comparison  with  the  benefits  of  an 
appeal,  should  the  consideration  of  inconvenience  weigh  with  the 
judges  of  this  Court,  who  are  engaged  nearly  every  day  in  the  year 
in  judicial  labor  under  the  same  roof,  and  may  be  brought  into  the 
same  room  at  any  time,  upon  an  hour's  notice  ! 

It  is  indeed  true,  that  heretofore,  in  this  State,  no  appeal  would 
lie  to  the  Court  of  Appeals,  in  a  case  of  habeas  corpus,  but  the  reason 
of  that  is,  in  the  fact  that,  in  the  acts  defining  the  right  of  appeal  to 
the  Court  of  Appeals,  the  words  used  do  not  include  in  their  mean 
ing  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and,  although  the  Court,  in  so  deter 
mining,  in  Bell  vs.  the  State,  in  4th  Gill,  state  certain  characteristics 
of  the  writ  which,  in  their  judgment,  do  not  bring  it  within  the  tjlass 
of  cases  which,  by  the  law  of  Maryland,  has  been  considered  as 
proper  subjects  for  an  appe'al,  it  is  not  asserted  in  that  case,  that  if 
the  acts  of  1785  and  1804  had  used  terms  sufficiently  comprehensive 
to  have  included  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  any  other  consideration 
connected  with  the  writ  would  have  forbidden  the  extension  of  an 
appeal  to  it.  Is  this  court,  then,  subject  to  the  same  restrictions,  or 
are  the  words  of  the  Constitution,  by  which  we  are  required  to  hear 
and  determine  appeals  in  certain  cases,  sufficiently  broad  and  com 
prehensive  to  include  within  their  meaning  the  proceedings  on  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  ?  The  obligation  imposed  upon  us  by  the  Con 
stitution  is,  "  to  hear  and  determine  all  motions  upon  any  matter  of 
law  determined  by  the  said  judge  or  judges,  while  holding  said  sev 
eral  courts."  By  what  process  of  reasoning  can  we  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  a  judgment  pronounced  in  a  habeas  corpus  case,  by 
which  an  act  of  Assembly  is  declared  to  be  unconstitutional,  and 
null  and  void,  is  not  the  determination  of  a  matter  of  law,  whilst 
the  same  judgment  pronounced  in  our  action  of  trespass  for  the 
detention  of  this  boy  would  be  a  matter  of  law,  and  reviewable 
by  us?  yet  this  would  be  the  result  of  our  rejection  of  this  juris 
diction. 

It  was  argued  at  the  bar,  that  the  jurisdiction  to  grant  the  writ 
of  habeas  corpus  of  the  courts  in  Maryland,  and  of  the  judges  out  of 
of  court,  having  been  given  by  statute,  presents  a  case  of  special 


354  APPENDIX. 


Antiquity  of  the  Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus. 


and  limited  jurisdiction,  and  must  follow  the  rule  applicable  to  such 
superadded  jurisdiction,  and  no  appeal  will  lie  unless  expressly  given, 
by  words  descriptive  of  the  writ,  in  the  same  statute.  This  conclu 
sion,  we  think,  is  drawn  from  unsound  premises.  The  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  is  coeval  with  the  earliest  times  of  the  common  law,  and  its 
origin  dates  so  far  back  that  it  cannot  now  be  traced.  It  was  in  use 
as  a  common-law  writ  of  right,  ex  debito  justicia,  before  Magna 
Charta  ;  and  the  practice  under  it  was  reduced  to  regularity  as  far 
back  as  the  Statute  of  31st  Charles  II.,  commonly  known  as  the 
Habeas  Corpus  Act.  It  was  imported  into  the  colony  of  Maryland 
with  the  earliest  settlers,  and  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act  of  the  reign  of 
Charles  II.  is  one  of  those  reported  by  Chancellor  Kilty  to  have  been 
in  force  here.  Our  own  statutory  enactments  on  the  subject  are  but 
little  more  than  an  adaptation  of  the  statute  of  Charles  to  the  altered 
condition  of  our  institutions  and  times,  and  no  more  create  a  special 
and  limited  jurisdiction  in  our  courts  than  an  act  of  Assembly,  which 
regulated  the  proceedings  in  trespass  or  covenant,  could  be  said  to 
confer  a  special  jurisdiction.  It  is  not  necessary,  therefore,  upon  this 
ground,  at  least,  that  an  appeal  shall  be  given,  totidem  verbis,  in 
habeas  corpus,  but  it  may  be  included  in  any  general  terms  sufficiently 
comprehensive  certainly  to  embrace  it.  In  New  York,  by  the  force 
of  such  general  terms,  it  was  held  that  a  writ  of  error  would  lie  in 
such  a  case  (Yates  vs.  The  People,  6  Johns,  337),  and  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  the  same  point  had  the  authoritative  sup 
port  of  such  names  as  Taney,  Story,  McLean,  Wayne,  and  Catron, 
though  the  case  came  to  no  decision,  from  a  divided  court.  (Holmes 
vs.  Jennison,  14  Peters,  540.)  This  point  has  not  been  again  con 
sidered  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  except  in  the 
case  of  Barry  vs.  Mercein,  5  Howard,  120,  which  arose  under  a  differ 
ent  clause  of  the  judiciary  act,  and  in  which  the  right  to  a  writ  of  er 
ror  was  limited  to  cases  where  the  amount  in  controversy  exceeds  two 
thousand  dollars.  Chief- Justice  Taney  delivered  the  opinion  of  the 
Court,  in  which  it  was  ruled,  that,  as  no  pecuniary  value  could  be 
assigned  to  a  controversy  involving  only  the  consideration  of  the 
custody  of  a  child,  no  writ  of  error  would  lie  under  that  section. 
But  he  expressly  refers  to  the  25th  section,  in  which  no  such  limita 
tion  is  prescribed,  and  distinguishes  the  case  then  under  considera 
tion  from  cases  arising  under  the  25th  section.  In  coming  to  the 
conclusion,  that  this  court  has  had  conferred  upon  it  and  is  bound 


APPENDIX.  355 


Magnitude  of  Interests  involved. 


to  exercise  the  duty  of  reviewing  the  determination  of  the  Baltimore 
City  Court  in  this  case,  we  cannot  disguise  that  we  are  acting  under 
a  deep  sense  of  the  magnitude  of  the  public  interest  involved  in  this 
decision ;  whilst  the  humble  citizen  is  entitled  to  demand  at  our 
hands  the  fullest  protection  to  his  liberty  and  happiness,  the  great 
body  of  the  people  may,  on  the  other  hand,  equally  claim  that  a  great 
philanthropic  enterprise,  which  has  for  its  object  the  rescuing  of  the 
young  from  the  dangerous  contamination  of  immorality  and  crime, 
shall  not  be  stricken  from  its  usefulness  by  a  view  of  the  constitu 
tional  protection  to  personal  liberty  now  for  the  first  time  acted 
upon. 

The  magnitude  of  the  interests  involved  in  the  judgments  often 
pronounced  in  habeas  corpus  cases  is  not  overstated  by  an  American 
law-writer,  treating  of  this  subject  of  appeal,  when  he  says:  "  Ques 
tions  of  the  most  serious  moment  are  often  raised  in  this  proceeding ; 
questions  relating  to  the  unconstitutionally  of  an  act  of  the  State  Le 
gislature,  or  of  Congress,  and  to  the  jurisdiction  of  courts,  the  highest, 
it  may  be,  in  the  land,  and  to  the  validity  of  the  process  emanating 
from  them.  These  questions,  when  they  arise,  it  is  supposed  to  be 
the  duty  of  the  judges  hearing  the  Jicibeas  corpus  to  determine.  Such 
questions  claim  the  most  deliberate  consideration  of  the  wisest  who 
are  charged  with  the  administration  of  justice,  and  it  is  neither  safe  nor 
consistent  with  the  general  spirit  of  American  law  to  intrust  their 
final  decision,  in  a  summary  proceeding,  to  a  single  judge,  sitting 
apart,  at  chambers,  without  a  record,  shorn  of  the  majesty  of  a 
court."  (Hurd  on  Habeas  Corpus,  569.) 

Assuming,  then,  that  this  court  has  had  conferred  upon  it  juris 
diction  to  entertain  this  motion,  the  remaining  question  to  be  con 
sidered  is :  is  the  law  constitutional  and  valid  which  empowers  a 
justice  of  the  peace  to  commit  Frank  Roth  to  the  House  of  Refuge, 
on  the  complaint,  and  upon  due  proof  made  to  him  by  his  father, 
that,  by  reason  of  incorrigible  or  vicious  conduct,  the  said  Frank 
Roth  had  rendered  his  control  beyond  the  power  of  his  said  father, 
and  made  it  manifestly  requisite  that,  from  regard  for  the  moral  and 
future  welfare  of  said  Frank  Roth,  and  the  peace  and  order  of  society, 
he  should  be  placed  under  the  guardianship  of  the  House  of  Refuge. 
These  are  the  precise  terms  of  the  conditions  in  which  a  minor,  in 
Frank  Roth's  position,  can  be  committed,  and  are  the  very  conditions 
stated  in  the  warrant  upon  which  he  was  committed.  Let  us  now  see 


356  APPENDIX. 


Is  the  Law  constitutional  ? 


whether  the  justice  had  lawful  authority  to  act  in  the  premises ;  for, 
if  he  had,  and  has  acted  within  the  scope  of  his  authority,  it  is  con 
ceded  that  there  is  no  power  in  the  Baltimore  City  Court  to  reverse 
that  judgment  in  this  proceeding,  it  being  well  settled  that  a  habeas 
corpus  cannot  be  made  to  perform  the  office  of  a  writ  of  error.  It  is 
commonly  said  of  the  State,  in  view  of  its  absolute  authority  over  all 
within  its  limits,  that  it  is  pavens  patria,  by  which  it  is  understood 
that  it  possesses,  and  is  bound  to  exercise  for  the  common  good,  do 
minion  and  control  over  the  persons  of  all  its  people.  This  dominion 
and  control  the  State  never  exercises  except  where  the  good  of  society 
demands  that  it  shall  be  called  into  use,  and  then  its  right  is  indis 
putable.  Thus,  it  confines  the  insane,  it  finds  a  home  for  the  pauper, 
it  imprisons  the  criminal,  it  binds  the  apprentice,  it  drafts  the  soldier. 
These  are  some  of  the  cases  in  which  the  State  gives  practical  evi 
dence  of  its  right  to  control  personal  liberty,  growing  out  of  the 
special  exigency  of  the  case ;  but  there  is  another  large  class,  who  are, 
in  contemplation  of  law,  always  in  the  special  care  and  custody  of  the 
State,  and  this  class  is  composed  of  all  persons  within  her  borders 
who  are  in  their  minority.  In  contemplation  of  law,  the  state  of 
minority  is  a  state  of  custody,  and  when  questions  affecting  the  con 
dition  of  minors  arise  upon  habeas  corpus,  the  inquiry  is  not,  shall 
the  minor  be  set  at  liberty,  but  to  whose  custody  shall  he  be  commit 
ted  ?  This  is  a  condition  necessarily  consequent  upon  the  disability 
under  which  the  law  places  him.  He  can  make  no  valid  contract ; 
he  can  bring  no  suit  except  through  the  agency  of  a  next  friend  ;  and 
hence  the  law,  in  disabling  him  from  protecting  himself,  must  assume 
him  to  be  in  the  guardianship  of  some  protecting  custody.  The  mode 
in  which  this  care  and  custody  is  exercised  varies  with  the  varying 
needs  of  the  subjects  of  it. 

Those  whose  natural  progenitors  were  able  to  care  for  all  their 
wants  it  intrusts  to  the  helping  of  parents,  relying  upon  the  natural 
instincts  of  paternity  to  discharge  this  duty  faithfully  and  well ;  those 
who  have  estates,  and  are  orphans,  are  placed  by  the  agency  of  proper 
courts  in  the  care  of  suitable,  chosen  guardians ;  those  who  need 
only  education,  which  their  own  means  will  not  supply,  are  supplied 
with  public  schools,  which,  in  many  instances,  they  are  compelled  to 
attend  ;  but  there  is  still  left  a  large  class  of  minors,  some  of  whom 
are  without  means — often  without  parents  or  friends,  and  as  often 
with  such  as  are  careless  and  dissolute— for  whom  the  State,  as  their 


APPENDIX.  357 


Character  of  Houses  of  Refuse 


nursing-mother,  is  bound  to  find  the  means  of  support.  Now,  as  the 
State  is  but  a  corporate  entity,  and  can  only  use  the  instrumentality 
of  public  eleemosynary  institutions  for  performing  this  duty,  and  as 
these  institutions  must  be  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  classes  of 
minors  specially  confided  to  them,  we  find  necessity  for  Manual-Labor 
Schools,  Children's  Aid  Societies,  Orphan  Asylums,  Poor  Boys'  Homes, 
and  Houses  of  Refuge  for  juvenile  delinquents.  As  the  case  we  are 
considering  concerns  alone  an  institution  of  the  kind  last  named,  it 
is  only  needful  to  notice  its  character  and  objects.  The  House  of 
Refuge  is  an  incorporated  society,  originally  started  upon  private 
subscriptions,  but  now  become  an  institution  of  such  value  to  the 
public,  that  annual  appropriations  from  the  public  treasury  are  made 
for  its  support.  It  is  under  the  management  of  a  board  of  twenty- 
four  directors,  chosen  annually,  ten  of  whom  are  elected  by  the  mem 
bers  of  the  association,  ten  are  appointed  by  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  of  Baltimore,  and  four  by  the  Governor  of  the  State,  thus  in 
suring  that  the  conduct  of  it  shall  be  under  the  charge  of  our  most 
responsible  citizens.  Its  distinctive  character  is  declared,  in  the  law, 
to  be  a  place  of  reform,  and  not  of  punishment,  and  the  means  used 
to  carry  out  its  object  consist  in  the  supply  of  abundant  clothing, 
wholesome  food,  educational  and  moral  training,  the  cultivation  of 
music,  and  the  teaching  of  such  proper  trades  and  employments  as, 
in  the  judgment  of  the  managers,  will' be  most  conducive  to  the 
reformation  and  the  future  benefit  and  advantage  of  its  children.  The 
institution  is  intended  for  the  benefit  of  that  class  of  minors  com 
monly  called  juvenile  delinquents,  and  to  those  only  should  its  bene 
fit  be  extended.  But,  as  it  is  established  for  this  class  only,  and  is 
not  to  be  used  by  those  who,  being  of  good  character,  need  only  the 
public  aid  in  their  support  and  education,  and  for  whom  other  insti 
tutions,  as  the  Manual-Labor  School,  Children's  Aid  Society,  and 
Poor  Boys'  Home,  are  founded,  it  is  obvious  that  some  mode  of  ad 
mission  should  be  prescribed  by  which  the  reformatory  benefits  of 
the  institution  shall  be  conferred  upon  those  only  who  are  the  proper 
subjects  for  them.  f  These  may  be  briefly  stated  to  be:  First,  by  the 
action  of  a  justice  of  the  peace,  on  the  complaint  of  the  father,  that 
the  minor  is  of  incorrigible  or  vicious  conduct ;  Secondly,  by  the  same 
authority,  upon  proof  that  the  minor  is  a  vagrant  or  incorrigibly 
vicious,  and  that  the  parent  of  such  minor  cannot,  or  will  not,  exer 
cise  proper  discipline  over  him  ;  Thirdly,  by  contract  with  the  parent 


358  APPENDIX. 


Does  not  conflict  with  Bill  of  Eights. 


of  an  incorrigible  and  vicious  child,  for  his  support  and  maintenance 
during  temporary  restraint  and  discipline ;  and,  lastly,  children  con 
victed  of  felony,  and  committed  by  sentence  of  court.  The  case  we 
are  now  considering  arises  under  the  first  of  the  above-mentioned 
modes  of  admission,  it  being  by  a  commitment  of  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  upon  the  complaint  of  the  father.  To  find  the  facts  upon 
which  the  justice  has  acted,  we  must  look  to  the  commitment  itself, 
because,  in  order  to  try  the  question  of  jurisdiction  in  the  justice,  we 
must  assume  the  facts  which  he  declares  to  have  been  the  basis  of 
his  action  to  be  true.  The  jurisdiction  is  plainly  given  by  the  act  of 
Assembly,  if  the  Legislature  had  the  power  to  confer  it,  and  it  is  the 
denial  of  that  power  by  the  judgment  of  the  Baltimore  City  Court,  in 
this  case,  as  being  in  violation  of  the  21st  and  23d  sections  of  the  Bill  of 
Rights,  which  constitutes  the  matter  of  law  this  court  is  called  upon  to 
review.  It  seems  to  us  that  the  mere  statement  that  this  commitment 
was  upon  the  complaint  and  request  of  the  father  is  an  answer  to  the  ob 
jection,  unless  we  mean  to  assume  that  the  framers  of  the  Bill  of  Rights 
designed  by  those  sections  to  take  from  a  father  of  a  minor  twelve 
years  old  the  right  to  subject  him  to  a  reformatory  restraint,  without 
indicting  him  by  a  grand  jury  and  procuring  his  conviction  of  crime. 
This  is  certainly  not  the  view  of  the  law  under  which  society  has 
reached  its  present  point  of  civilization  and  culture.  In  all  time 
heretofore,  the  rights  and  duty  of  the  parent,  under  the  allowance  of 
the  State,  to  control  his  child  by  any  discipline,  not  barbarous  and  in 
human,  which  the  incorrigible  and  vicious  conduct  of  such  child  may 
render  necessary,  have  been  always  admitted  and  acted  upon.  Could 
our  constitutional  lawgivers  have  intended  to  destroy  this  rig] it  by 
the  sections  in  the  Bill  of  Rights  protecting  personal  liberty  ?  If  they 
did,  we  have  been  a  long  time  in  ignorance  of  it,  for  these  provisions 
were  in  our  first  Bill  of  Rights,  and  have  never  before  been  applied  to 
the  limitation  of  parental  discipline,  either  exercised  directly  by  the 
parent  himself,  or,  in  default  of  his  ability  to  afford  it,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  a  public  institution.  The  jurisdiction  of  the 
justice  thus  exercised  by  the  authority  of  the  State  to  commit  an  in 
corrigible  and  vicious  minor,  upon  the  complaint  and  due  proof  made 
by  the  father  that  he  was  such,  seems  to  be  too  plain  for  argument. 
Let  us  look,  then,  at  the  character  of  his  action,  to  see  how  far  it  is 
conformable  to  the  authority  conferred  upon  him.  The  authority  to 
commit  in  this  case  is  conferred  by  the  18th  section  of  the  78th  Ar- 


APPENDIX.  359 


Substance  of  Testimony  not  required  from  Father. 


ticle  of  the  Public  General  Code,  which  prescribes  the  four  classes 
of  cases  which  should  be  received,  and  the  manner  of  receiving  them 
into  the  House  of  Kefuge.  This  commitment  was  made  under  the 
first  mode  set  forth  in  the  section,  and  is  in  the  very  words  of  the 
law,  stating  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  law  requires.  But  a  sub 
sequent  section — the  20th — makes  it  the  duty  of  the  justice,  when 
committing  a  vagrant,  or  incorrigible,  or  vicious  minor,  in  addition  to 
the  commitment,  to  annex  the  names  and  residences  of  the  different 
witnesses  examined  before  him,  and  the  substance  of  the  testimony 
given  by  them  respectively,  on  which  the  adjudication  was  founded, 
and  the  same  duty  shall  be  performed  by  the  clerk  of  any  court  the 
judge  whereof  shall  make  such  commitment.  It  may  very  well  be 
questioned  whether  the  proper  construction  of  this  requirement  will 
extend  it  to  the  case  of  a  commitment  upon  the  application  of  the 
father,  or  whether  it  ought  not  to  be  confined  to  the  second  class  of 
cases  named  in  the  18th  section,  where  the  commitment  is  made  upon 
the  testimony  of  strangers,  who  proved  not  only  the  vicious  charac 
ter  of  the  minor,  but  also  the  moral  depravity  of  the  parents.  In 
the  first  case,  the  authority  and  right  to  control  and  confine  the 
incorrigible  child  already  exist,  by  force  of  law,  in  the  father ;  and  he 
is  entitled  to  exercise  them,  for  disciplinary  purposes,  according  to  his 
own  judgment  of  their  necessity.  His  application  to  the  justice  is  not 
to  obtain  the  authority  to  confine,  but  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
the  benefit  of  the  institution  in  the  mode  which  has  been  prescribed 
to  prevent  its  abuse.  His  own  commitment  of  the  minor,  if  the  in 
stitution  would  receive  him,  would  be  as  valid  as  the  justice's.  More 
over,  he  is,  by  law,  the  sole  and  final  judge  of  the  conduct  of  his 
child  and  his  necessity  for  discipline,  and  his  testimony,  that,  by 
reason  of  the  vicious  conduct  of  such  child,  it  is  manifestly  requisite 
that  he  or  she  should  be  placed  under  the  guardianship  of  the  House 
of  Refuge,  ought  to  be  sufficient,  without  the  necessity  of  his  spread 
ing  out  at  length  the  particular  delinquencies  of  the  child,  to  remain 
a  record  long  after  the  reformatory  influences  of  the  Eefuge  may  have 
made  him  a  useful  and  honest  member  of  society.  In  the  case  of  the 
commitment  upon  the  testimony  of  strangers,  where  the  proof  must 
be  not  only  the  delinquency  of  the  minor,  but  the  moral  depravity  of 
the  parent,  the  authority  to  commit  is  in  its  nature  judicial  and  it 
results  from  the  judgment  of  the  justice  applied  to  the  facts  proved 
before  him.  Hence  arises  the  propriety  of  requiring  the  justice  to 


360  APPENDIX. 


Validity  does  not  depend  upon  Technical  Accuracy. 


state  the  substance  of  the  testimony  upon  which  his  judgment  is 
founded.  But,  conceding  that  the  requirements  of  the  20th  section 
are  applicable  to  this  case,  is  compliance  with  such  requirements  a 
necessary  part  of  the  commitment  to  the  extent  of  making  the  com 
mitment  void  if  not  complied  with  ?  We  do  not  think  it  is.  The 
commitment  itself  states,  with  exact  particularity,  the  facts  neces 
sary  to  be  proven,  and  states,  with  equal  distinctness,  that  they  were 
so  proved.  The  requirement  of  the  20th  section  is  not,  that  the 
justice  shall  state  the  whole  evidence  upon  which  the  adjudication  is 
founded,  so  that  another  court,  subsequently  investigating  the  case, 
can  see  whether  his  judgment  was  right,  but  he  is  to  state  the  sub 
stance  of  the  testimony,  that  is,  just  so  much,  by  his  own  abridgment 
of  the  facts,  as  will  show  the  general  character  of  the  matter  proved. 
Surely  it  could  not  have  been  intended  that  the  validity  of  the  com 
mitment  should  be  made  to  depend  upon  the  literary  and  technical 
legal  accuracy  of  the  justice,  in  compressing  into  a  few  words  that 
which,  in  its  delivery,  occupies  many.  This  is  made  apparent,  also, 
by  the  provisions  in  the  same  section,  which  requires  that,  when  the 
judge  of  a  court  shall  make  the  commitment,  the  clerk  of  the  court, 
who  is  not  required  by  his  duty  to  listen  to  the  evidence,  who  is  not 
called  upon,  and  is  incompetent,  to  judge  of  its  admissibility,  its 
weight,  or  its  technical  significance,  is  to  make  the  same  statement 
of  the  substance  of  the  evidence ;  and  yet,  according  to  the  construc 
tion  contended  for,  the  commitment  of  the  judge  is  to  stand  or  fall 
by  the  technical  accuracy  of  the  clerk's  discharge  of  this  duty.  In 
this  case  the  justice  did  not  omit  altogether  the  performance  of  this 
duty,  but,  to  justify  his  adjudication,  that  the  boy  was  incorrigibly 
vicious,  stated  that  he  was  proved  to  be  one  of  a  gang  of  depredators 
and  thieves  prowling  around  and  stealing.  This,  although  not  a  very 
full  and  satisfactory  compliance  with  the  act  of  Assembly,  is  not  suf 
ficient  to  render  the  commitment  bad.  We  do  not  think  there  is  any 
thing  in  the  objection  that  the  statement  of  the  justice  convicts  the 
boy  of  a  crime.  The  thing  to  be  proven  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
justice  was,  that  the  boy  was  of  incorrigibly  vicious  conduct,  and  he 
was  so  proven.  If,  in  the  statement  of  the  substance  of  the  tes 
timony,  the  justice  states  that  one  of  the  items  of  proof  which  led  to 
that  conclusion  was,  that  he  belonged  to  a  gang  of  depredators  and 
thieves,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  was  specifically  charged  with  being 
a  thief,  or  that  his  being  adjudged  to  be  incorrigibly  vicious  con- 


APPENDIX.  361 


Not  a  Criminal  Prosecution :  a  Jury  not  required. 


victed  him  of  larceny  or  felony.  Proof  within  the  terms  used  by 
the  justice  might  have  been  exhibited  to  him,  as  that  the  boy  fre 
quented  the  society  of  depredators  and  thieves,  against  the  remon 
strance  of  his  father,  and  that  he  was  perversely  forsaking  the  path 
of  rectitude  for  that  of  vice,  would  fall  far  short  of  a  conviction  of 
crime,  in  a  legal  sense,  and  yet  be  quite  sufficient  to  sustain  the 
judgment  that  he  was  incorrigibly  vicious.  A  large  part  of  the  ar 
gument  before  us,  in  behalf  of  the  relator,  was  expended  in  the  at 
tempt  to  show  that  the  inquiry  before  the  justice  was  a  "  criminal 
prosecution,"  in  the  sense  of  the  21st  section  of  the  Bill  of  Eights, 
and  that,  therefore,  the  party  charged  was  entitled  to  a  trial  by  jury, 
and  to  the  other  privileges  set  out  in  that  section,  and  that  the  pro 
ceeding  also  violates  the  21st  section,  by  depriving  the  minor  of  his 
liberty,  without  the  judgment  of  his  peers,  or,  not  according  to  the 
law  of  the  land.  It  is  sufficient  for  us  to  say  that,  in  our  view,  the 
complaint  and  proof  by  Martin  Roth,  that  his  son,  twelve  years  old, 
was  incorrigibly  vicious,  and  the  consequent  judgment  therein,  that 
he  should  be  placed  under  the  guardianship  of  the  House  of  Eefuge, 
is  not  a  "  criminal  prosecution  "  which  demands  the  intervention  of  a 
jury ;  and  if  we  are  right  in  the  proposition  heretofore  laid  down  in 
this  opinion,  as  to  the  legal  status  of  minors  with  reference  to  cus 
tody,  the  proceeding  in  question  is  not  one  by  which  the  minor  is 
deprived  of  his  liberty,  but  only  one  in  which  is  determined,  on 
grounds  of  public  expediency,  the  transfer  of  his  custody.  The  case 
we  have  now  considered  and  decided  is  not  now  for  the  first  time 
brought  to  the  notice  of  a  court  of  justice.  In  the  State  of  Penn 
sylvania  there  exists  a  House  of  Eefuge,  after  which  our  own  was 
copied,  and  from  whose  charter  we  have  taken  the  precise  modes  of 
admission  to  the  benefits  of  the  institution  which  they  had  previously 
adopted.  Upon  a  case  exactly  resembling  the  one  we  have  been  re 
viewing,  except  that  the  conviction  was  made  on  the  complaint  of 
the  mother,  and  the  habeas  corpus  applied  for  on  the  relation  of  the 
father,  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania  heard  and  decided  the 
case  upon  precisely  the  objections  taken  in  this ;  that  is,  that  the 
authority  conferred  on  a  justice  to  commit  was  in  contravention  of 
the  Declaration  of  Eights,  which  contains  the  same  provisions  as  our 
own.  We  give  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  Court,  in  full,  the 
judges  being  Chief-Justice  Gibson,  and  Eogers,  Huston,  Kennedy, 


362  APPENDIX. 


Per  Curiam. 


and  Sergeant,  associates.  The  case  is  Ex  parte  Grouse,  4  Whar- 
ton,  9 : 

Per  Curiam. — "  The  House  of  Eefuge  is  not  a  prison,  but  a  school, 
where  reformation,  but  not  punishment,  is  the  end.  It  may,  indeed, 
be  used  as  a  prison  for  juvenile  convicts,  who  would  else  be  commit 
ted  to  a  common  jail,  and  in  respect  to  these,  the  constitutionality 
of  the  Act  which  incorporated  it  stands  clear  of  controversy.  It  is 
only  in  respect  of  the  application  of  its  discipline  to  subjects  admit 
ted  on  the  order  of  a  court,  a  magistrate,  or  the  managers  of  the 
Alms  House,  that  a  doubt  is  entertained.  The  object  of  the  charity 
is  reformation,  by  training  its  inmates  to  industry,  by  imbuing  their 
minds  with  principles  of  morality  and  religion,  by  furnishing  them 
with  means  to  earn  a  living,  and,  above  all,  by  separating  them  from 
the  corrupting  influence  of  improper  associates. 

"  To  this  end,  may  not  the  natural  parents,  when  unequal  to  the 
task  of  education,  or  unworthy  of  it,  be  superseded  by  the  parens 
patrice,  or  common  guardian  of  the  community  ? 

"  It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  the  public  has  a  paramount  interest 
in  the  virtue  and  knowledge  of  its  members,  and  that,  of  strict  right, 
the  business  of  education  belongs  to  it.  That  parents  are  ordinarily 
intrusted  with  it,  is  because  it  can  seldom  be  put  into  better  hands ; 
but  when  they  are  incompetent  or  corrupt,  what  is  there  to  prevent 
the  public  from  withdrawing  the  faculties  held,  as  they  obviously 
are,  at  its  sufferance  ?  The  right  of  parental  control  is  a  natural,  but 
not  an  inalienable  one.  It  is  not  excepted  by  the  Declaration  of 
Rights  out  of  the  subjects  of  ordinary  legislation,  and  it  consequently 
remains  subject  to  the  ordinary  legislative  power,  which,  if  wantonly 
or  inconveniently  used,  would  soon  be  constitutionally  restricted,  but 
the  competency  of  which,  as  the  Government  is  constituted,  cannot 
be  doubted. 

"  As  to  abridgment  of  indefeasible  rights  by  confinement  of  the 
person,  it  is  no  more  than  what  is  borne,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent, 
in  every  school,  and  we  know  of  no  natural  right  to  exemption  from 
restraints  which  conduce  to  an  infant's  welfare.  Nor  is  there  a 
doubt  of  the  propriety  of  their  application  in  this  particular  instance. 
The  infant  has  been  snatched  from  a  course  which  must  have  ended 
in  confirmed  depravity;  and  not  only  is  the  restraint  of  her  person 
lawful,  but  it  would  be  an  act  of  extreme  cruelty  to  release  her  from 
it.  Remanded." 


APPENDIX.  363 


On  the  Relation  of  Charles  Boyle. 


In  conformity  with  the  opinion  we  have  now  expressed,  we  re 
verse  the  judgment  of  the  Baltimore  City  Court. 

In  testimony  that  the  aforegoing  is  a  true  copy,  taken 
from  the  opinions  of  the  majority  of  the  Supreme 
Bench  of  Baltimore  City,  and  filed  in  this  office  for 
[SEAL.]        record,  February  5,  1868,  I  hereunto  subscribe  my 
name,  and  affix  the  seal  of  the  Supreme  Bench  of 
Baltimore  City,  6th  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1868. 
GEO.  ROBINSON,  Clerk. 


THE  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE 


vs. 


THE  STATE  OF  MARYLAND,  ON  THE  RE 
LATION  OF  CHAELES  BOYLE. 


In  the  Supreme  Bench  of 
Baltimore  City. 


Upon  the  motion  of  the  HOUSE  OP  REFUGE  to  have  heard  and  determined  in  this 
Court  a  matter  of  law  decided  in  the  Baltimore  City  Court. 

The  paper-book  shows  that  this  case  differs  from  Eoth's  case, 
just  decided,  only  in  the  fact  that  the  commitment  in  this  case  was 
made  under  the  second  provision  of  the  18th  section  of  the  78th 
article  of  the  Code,  which  provides  for  the  commitment  to  the  House 
of  Refuge  of  incorrigibly  vicious  minors,  whose  parents,  by  reason 
of  their  own  moral  depravity,  or  otherwise,  are  incapable  or  unwill 
ing  to  exercise  the  proper  care  and  discipline  over  them.  The 
reasons  which  we  have  given,  in  the  opinion  filed  in  Roth's  case,  for 
entertaining  jurisdiction  to  hear  and  determine  matters  of  law  in  a 
habeas  corpus  case,  and  for  sustaining  the  jurisdiction  of  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace,  as  conferred  by  the  article  of  the  Code  above  referred  to, 
apply  equally  to  this.  The  proceedings  of  the  justice  more  fully  con 
form  to  the  law  in  this  case  than  Roth's,  the  statement  of  the  sub 
stance  of  the  testimony  annexed  to  the  commitment  is,  in  all  par 
ticulars,  a  compliance  with  the  law.  The  objection  taken,  that  it 
convicts  the  minor  of  a  crime,  we  think,  can  hardly  be  sustained  by 


364  APPENDIX. 


Judgment  of  Supreme  Bench. 


the  fact  that,  in  giving  the  testimony  upon  which  is  founded  his  ad 
judication,  that  the  minor  was,  in  consequence  of  vicious  conduct,  a 
proper  subject  for  the  guardianship  of  the  House  of  Kefuge,  the 
justice  stated  that  the  minor,  a  child  between  ten  and  eleven  years 
old,  had  been  caught  in  the  act  of  stealing  two  dollars  and  thirty-eight 
cents.  To  have  taken  any  other  notice  of  such  an  offence,  commit 
ted  by  a  mere  child,  except  to  subject  him  to  parental  discipline,  or, 
in  default  of  that,  to  the  reformatory  care  of  the  House  of  Kefuge, 
and  especially  to  have  committed  one  of  his  tender  years  to  the  con 
tamination  of  a  Penitentiary,  would  have  aroused  the  moral  sense  of 
the  community  in  a  far  higher  degree  than  it  is  likely  to  be  dis 
turbed  by  any  apprehended  invasion  of  the  right  to  personal  liberty. 
For  the  reasons  given  in  the  opinion  in  Eoth's  case,  and  in  this,  we 
reverse  the  judgment  of  the  Baltimore  City  Court  in  this  case. 


THE  HOUSE  OF  KEFUGE 

In  the  Supreme  Bench  of 
THE  STATE  OF  MAETLAND,  ox  THE  RE 
LATION  OF  CHAELES  BOYLE. 


Baltimore  City. 


Upon  the  motion  of  the  HOUSE  OF  REFUGE  to  have  heard  and  determined  in  this 
Court  a  matter  of  law  decided  in  the  Baltimore  City  Court. 

The  motion  in  the  case  standing  ready  for  hearing,  was  argued 
by  counsel  for  the  parties,  and  the  proceedings  have  sincjs  been  con 
sidered.  And  it  appearing  to  this  Court,  for  the  reasons  set  out  in 
the  opinion  herewith  filed,  that  there  is  error,  in  matter  of  law,  in 
the  judgment  of  the  Baltimore  City  Court,  rendered  in  this  case,  on 
the  eleventh  day  of  January,  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight, 

It  is,  therefore,  on  this  fifth  day  of  February,  in  the  year  eighteen 
hundred  and  sixty-eight,  by  the  Supreme  Bench  of  Baltimore  City, 


APPENDIX.  365 


Rules  for  Enforcement  of  Discipline. 


adjudged  and  ordered,  that  the  said  judgment  be,  and  the  same  is 
hereby  reversed.  GEORGE  W.  DOBBIN, 

HENEY  F.  GAEEY, 
EOBT.  GILMOE,  Jr. 

I  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  copy,  taken 
from  the  records  of  the  Supreme  Bench  of  Baltimore 
City,  on  file  in  this  office.  In  testimony  whereof,  I 
[SEAL.]  have  hereunto  subscribed  my  name,  and  affixed  the 
seal  of  the  said  Supreme  Bench,  this  sixth  day  of 
February,  in  the  year  of  out  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-eight. 

GEOEGE  EOBINSON,  Cleric. 


IV. 

EULES  FOE  THE  ENFOECEMENT  OF  DISCIPLINE  IN  THE 
NEW  YOEK  HOUSE  OF  EEFUGE. 

I. — TELL  NO  LIES. 

II. — ALWAYS  DO  THE  BEST  YOU  CAN. 

III. — The  boys  and  girls  are  divided  into  four  grades,  according  to 
conduct. 

Grade  1 — Includes  the  best  behaved  and  most  orderly  boys 
and  girls ;  those  who  do  not  lie,  nor  use  profane  lan 
guage  ;  who  are  neat  and  tidy  in  their  persons,  and 
cleanly  in  their  habits ;  who  do  not  wilfully  or  care 
lessly  waste,  injure,  or  destroy  property  belonging  to 
the  House,  and  who  are  always  respectful  to  the  offi 
cers. 
Grade  2 — Embraces  those  who  are  fair  in  conduct,  but  not 

entirely  free  from  faults  mentioned  above. 
Grade  3 — Consists  of  those  whose  conduct  is  not  so  good 
as  those  in  Grade  2.     The  first  Grade  of  a  boy  or  girl 
is  always  3. 

Grade  4 — Is  the  lowest,  and  one  of  disgrace,  it  is  only  given 
in  cases  of  continued  or  gross  misconduct ;  a  former 
inmate  returned  for  fault  is  placed  in  Grade  4. 


366  APPENDIX. 


Rules  for  Enforcing  Discipline. 


IV. — For  violation  of  rules,  boys  and  girls  are  degraded  from  1  to 
2,  from  2  to  3,  and  from  3  to  4 ;  for  improvement  in  conduct  they 
are  raised  in  Grade  from  4  to  3,  from  3  to  2,  and  from  2  to  1. 
Any  boy  or  girl  continuing  for  thirteen  weeks  in  succession  in 
Grade  1,  is  advanced  to  the  Class  of  Honor,  and  wears  an  ap 
propriate  badge. 

Y. — The  Grades  are  determined  every  Saturday  evening,  in  the 
presence  of  the  whole  division,  according  to  the  marks  made 
during  the  week. 
VI. — Five  marks  lower  the  Grade  one  step  ;  four  leave  it  the  same 

as  the  previous  week  ;  less  than  four  are  forgiven. 
VII. — In  the  Second  Division,  punishment  with  the  strap  degrades 
to  4;  except  when  the  subject  is  in  the  Class  of  Honor,  in  which 
case  it  degrades  to  2. 

VIII. — Boys  and  girls  gain  their  release  from  the  Eefuge  by  retain 
ing  Grade  1  for  fifty-two  weeks  in  succession,  and  by  attaining 
to  the  highest  class  in  school — and  they  are  discharged  from  the 
House  when  a  proper  place  is  provided  for  them. 
IX. — N~o  applications  from  parents  or  friends  of  children  will  be 
entertained  by  the  Indenturing  Committee,  until  the  inmate  ap 
plied  for  shall  have  been  in  Grade  1  at  least  six  weeks  next 
preceding  the  time  of  application,  and  shall  have  reached  at 
least  the  third  class  in  school. 

X.— When  an  inmate  has  been  degraded  to  4,  an  addition  of  four 
weeks'  continuance  in  Grade  1,  required  by  the  foregoing  rule, 
will  be  made,  before  an  application  for  discharge  can  be  heard  ; 
and  two  weeks  more  are  added  for  every  other  Grade  of  4  re 
ceived. 

XI.— Grades  can  be  changed  only  by  theAssistant-Superintendent, 
in  case  of  boys,  and  by  the  Matron,  in  case  of  girls,  for  offences 
committed  out  of  school ;  and  by  the  Principal  for  offences  oc 
curring  in  school. 

XII. — Any  officer  in  charge  of  boys  or  girls  may  give,  for  disorderly 
conduct,  not  to  exceed  two  marks  during  any  one  week,  pro 
vided  the  marks  given,  added  to  those  already  imposed  by  others 
during  the  same  week,  do  not  exceed  four. 

XIII.— Before  any  marks  are  given,  the  boy  or  girl  must  be  required 
to  tell  the  number  of  marks  already  received,  and  the  statement 
must  be  taken  and  noted. 


APPENDIX.  367 


Discourse  of  Kev.  Dr.  Stanford. 


XIV., — In  case  an  inmate  makes  a  false  statement,  which  will  be 
discovered  at  "Badge  call,"  the  offender  shall  be  degraded  at 
least  two  Grades,  or  may  be  punished  according  to  the  discretion 
of  the  officer  in  charge.  In  the  latter  case  the  Grade  will  be  4. 
XV. — When  the  aggregate  marks  for  the  week  amount  to.  four,  and 
other  offences  are  counted,  the  boys  out  of  school  must  be  re 
ported  to  the  Assistant-Superintendent,  and  the  girls  to  the 
Matron ;  and  all  cases  in  school,  either  boys  or  girls,  must  be 
reported  to  the  Principals.  After  a  report  is  made  to  the  As 
sistant-Superintendent,  Matron,  or  Principal,  no  marks  can  be 
altered  or  cancelled  except  by  their  approval ;  nor  can  these 
officers  cancel  any  marks  legitimately  given  by  the  subordinate 
officers  previous  to  the  report. 

XVI. — When  the  Grade  is  determined  at  the  calling  of  the  badges  at 
the  close  of  the  week,  it  cannot  be  changed  except  by  the  con 
sent  of  the  Superintendent. 


V. 

A  DISCOURSE 

ON  OPENING  THE  NEW  BUILDING  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  EEFUGE,  NEW 
YORK;  ESTABLISHED  FOR  THE  REFORMATION  OF  JUVENILE  DE 
LINQUENTS.  DELIVERED  DECEMBER  25TH,  1825,  IN  PRESENCE  OF 
THE  MANAGERS  OF  THE  INSTITUTION,  THE  HONORABLE  THE  MAYOR 
AND  COMMON  COUNCIL  OF  THE  CITY,  SOME  OF  THE  MEMBERS  OF 
THE  LEGISLATURE,  AND  MANY  OF  ITS  PATRONS  AND  FRIENDS.  BY 
JOHN  STANFORD,  A.  M. 

Once  rude  and  ignorant  we  were, 

With  natures  prone  to  stray ! 
Blest  now  by  Pity's  kindest  care, 

We  hear  of  Wisdom's  way. 

The  soul  untaught  is  dark  as  night, 

Where  every  evil  dwells  ; 
All  hail  Instruction's  sacred  light, 

Which  all  this  night  dispels  1-SS. 

"  Take  this  child  away  and  nurse  it  for  me,  and  I  will  give  tTiee  thy 
wages." — Exodus  ii.  9. 

It  has  frequently  been  asserted,  that  when  a  child  is  destined  for 
eome  eminent  station  and  usefulness  in  life,  its  birth  is  usually  accom- 


368  APPENDIX. 


Sermon  of  Rev.  Dr.  Stanford. 


ponied  with  some  strong  marks  of  distinction.  This  certainly  wa^  the 
case  with  Moses,  who  was  designated  by  the  Almighty  to  be  the  de 
liverer  of  the  Israelites  from  their  bondage  in  Egypt ;  and  afterward  to 
become  their  Lawgiver,  Prophet,  and  General,  as  they  passed  through 
the  wilderness  to  inherit  the  land  of  Canaan.  About  the  320th  year  of 
the  Hebrew  captivity,  it  is  said,  There  arose  up  a  new  Icing  over  Egypt, 
which  knew  not  Joseph.  Which,  I  presume,  is  not  to  be  understood, 
that  he  was  ignorant  such  a  person  lived  in  Egypt,  was  raised  from 
obscurity  to  dignity,  and  preserved  multitudes  alive  amidst  the 
ravages  of  famine :  but,  that  he  had  no  esteem  for  him,  because 
he  was  an  Hebrew ;  and  therefore  cultivated  an  implacable  enmity 
to  Joseph's  brethren,  who  had  so  exceedingly  increased  that  it 
alarmed  his  fears  for  the  safety  of  his  kingdom.  This  excited  his 
cruelty  to  lay  unjustifiable  burdens  upon  this  people;  but  the  more 
he  afflicted  them  the  more  they  multiplied  and  grew.  Disappointed 
in  this  measure,  he*  commanded,  that  when  the  Hebrew  women 
should  bring  forth  their  male  children,  the  midwives  should  destroy 
them  in  their  birth.  In  this  also  the  king  was  disappointed ;  for,  to 
the  humanity  and  honor  of  those  females  it  is  said,  the  midwives 
feared  God,  and  did  not  as  the  king  of  Egypt  commanded  them,  hut 
saved  the  men  children  alive;  and  then  made  an  excuse  for  their 
conduct.  This  so  exasperated  the  king,  that  he  charged  all  his  peo 
ple,  saying,  Every  son  that  is  lorn  ye  shall  cast  into  the  river,  and 
every  daughter  ye  shall  save  alive.  Cruel  wretch,  in  the  character 
of  a  king !  his  edicts  are  here  recorded  as  perpetual  brands  of  his 
infamy. 

At  this  time  lived  Amram  and  Jochebed,  two  pious  Israelites  of 
the  tribe  of  Levi.  God  had  already  blessed  them  with  a  son  whose 
name  was  Aaron,  and  a  daughter  called  Miriam.  IsTow,  a  third  child 
is  added  to  the  number;  it  was  a  son  of  a  beautiful  countenance,  and 
excited  the  most  ardent  affections  of  his  parents.  But,  the  edict! 
the  cruel  mandate  of  Pharaoh,  which  sentenced  the  lovely  child  to 
death  in  the  waters  of  the  Nile,  overwhelmed  them  with  sorrow. 
The  fond  parents  determined  to  conceal  the  infant  as  long  as  possible, 
and  retained  it  within  their  arms  for  three  months,  but  could  do  so 
no  longer.  God,  who  foresees  all  events,  to  accomplish  His  own 
purposes,  no  doubt  dictated  to  the  mother  the  expedient  of  making  an 
ark,  or  close  basket  of  bulrushes ;  and  it  is  said,  she  daubed  it  with 
slime  and  with  pitch,  to  keep  out  the  water.  Into  this  ark  she  laid 


APPENDIX.  369 


Sermon  of  Rev.  Dr.  Stanford. 


her  tender  infant,  closed  the  lid,  and,  in  faith  on  the  God  of  Israel, 
laid  it  in  the  flags  by  the  river's  brink,  whether  for  life,  or  death.* 
Say,  ye  tender  mothers !  what  were  your  feelings,  when,  on  the  loss 
of  an  infant  by  death,  it  was  laid  in  the  coffin,  and,  before  the  lid  was 
closed,  you  gave  with  your  lips  the  last  token  of  affection !  Ye  best 
can  tell  the  feeling  of  the  mother  of  Moses,  when  in  tears  she  closed 
the  lid  of  the  ark,  and  left  him  in  the  waters  of  danger. 

On  this  very  day,  the  providence  of  God  directed  the  feet  of 
Pharaoh's  daughter,  in  company  with  her  maidens,  to  go  down  to 
the  river  and  wash.  "Whether  this  was  for  the  purpose  of  pleasure, 
for  health,  or  as  an  act  of  idolatrous  worship,  is  not  so  material  for 
us  to  determine.  As  she  walked  by  the  river,  she  saw  a  something 
among  the  flags ;  curiosity  prompted  an  order  to  her  maidens  to 
fetch  it ;  the  lid  was  opened ;  she  saw  the  child ;  and  behold !  the 
~babe  wept.  Had  we  been  present,  we  should  have  perceived  her  sur 
prise;  the  tears  of  Moses  in  distress  awakened  her  sympathy;  her 
generous  bosom  glowed ;  she  had  compassion  on  him,  and  instantly 
exclaimed,  This  is  one  of  the  Hebrews'1  children  !  A  nurse  was  imme 
diately  provided,  and  the  princess  honored  her  own  feelings  by  thus 
addressing  her :  TaTce  this  child  away,  and  nurse  it  for  me,  and  I  will 
give  thee  thy  wages.  This  was  accepted,  and  the  woman  tools  the 
child  and  nursed  it.  Those  who  have  read  the  sequel  of  this  history 
need  not  be  told  that,  from  this  most  striking  occurrence,  Pharaoh's 
daughter  adopted  this  rescued  child  as  her  own  son ;  she  caused  him 
to  be  instructed  in  all  the  learning  of  Egypt ;  and,  that  he  afterward 
became  one  of  the  most  distinguished  and  honored  characters  that 
adorn  the  pages  of  the  Old  Testament. 

As  we  are  this  morning  assembled  in  this  new  building,  to  offer 
our  prayers  to  the  Almighty  for  His  gracious  benediction  upon  this 
benevolent  Institution,  perhaps  I  may  not  better  perform  the  duty 
assigned  me,  than  by  drawing  a  few  lines  of  comparison  between  the 
forlorn  exposure,  and  the  relief  of  little  Moses,  and  those  young  unfor 
tunates  whom  this  Society  rescues  from  misery,  granting  them  pro 
tection  in  this  House  of  Refuge. 

I.  Let  us  recollect  the  danger  to  which  the  infant  Moses  was 
exposed.  He  was  laid  among  the  flags  which  grew  on  the  brink  of 
the  Nile,  and  in  danger  of  being  carried  away  by  the  stream,  and 

*  Hebrews  xi.  23. 
24 


370  APPENDIX. 


Sermon  of  Eev.  Dr.  Stanford. 


seen  no  more.  And  who  does  not  know,  that  iniquity  has  too- long 
run  down  our  streets  like  water ;  and  that  the  floods  of  the  ungodly, 
like  the  rising  of  the  waters  of  the  Nile,  have  frequently  overflowed 
the  safety  and  peace  of  our  city  ?  The  rising  generation,  for  succes 
sive  years,  have  been  exposed  to  this  polluting  current,  and  many  of 
them  have  heen  carried  away  and  destroyed.  Often  have  we  seen 
the  children  of  the  lower  orders  of  society,  for  the  want  of  education 
and  restraint,  plunging  into  this  iniquitous  stream ;  and  such  are  the 
force  of  example  and  the  fascinations  of  vice,  that  we  are  not' with 
out  some  instances  of  other  young  persons,  of  respectable  connec 
tions,  being  unhappily  carried  away  from  the  paths  of  virtue,  lodged 
in  houses  of  criminal  confinement,  lost  to  all  expectation  by  their 
parents  of  retrieving  their  characters  and  becoming  useful  members 
of  society.  But  now,  the  pitying  eye,  like  that  of  Pharaoh's  daugh 
ter,  is  directed  to  such  young  offenders ;  and,  the  hand  of  kindness 
is  extended,  at  once  to  rescue  them  from  destruction,  and  safely  con 
duct  them  to  this  House  of  Eefuge. 

Let  us  not  forget  that  little  Moses  was  also  in  danger  of  being 
devoured  by  the  crocodile.  This  amphibious  animal  is  a  native 
inhabitant  of  the  Nile,  living  both  on  land  and  water ;  it  frequently 
grows  to  an  enormous  size,  is  of  great  strength,  and  extremely  vora 
cious.  It  has  the  largest  mouth  of  all  monsters,  opens  both  his  jaws 
at  once,  which,  being  furnished  with  a  great  number  of  sharp  teeth, 
can  snap  a  man  asunder  in  a  moment,  and  gorge  the  body.  To  this 
dreadful  monster  the  infant  Moses  was  exposed ;  and  we  cannot  but 
shudder  at  the  apprehension  of  his  exposure.  Perhaps  you  may 
inquire,  Have  we  any  such  dangerous  animals  in  our  city,  or  in  its 
rivers  ?  "We  have  only  seen  them  exhibited  in  show,  and  so  confined 
as  to  admit  of  no  danger  to  the  visitors.  Where  then  can  be  the  cor 
rectness  of  this  comparison  between  little  Moses  and  the  miserable 
young  beings  who  wander  in  our  streets?  I  venture  to  affirm  that, 
among  us,  we  have  crocodiles  in  human  shape;  persons  whose  con 
duct  is  as  dangerous  to  the  interest  of  civil  society  as  are  the  ravages 
of  the  monsters  in  the  Nile.  They  may  well  be  denominated  amphib 
ious,  for  they  are  capable  of  committing  their  ravages  upon  the 
land,  or  on  the  water.  Indeed,  it  is  well  known  that,  by  various 
methods,  such  unhappy  characters  form  their  criminal  practices  into 
a  system.  They  first  learn  the  rudiments  of  their  art  in  secret;  per 
haps  in  some  obscure  cellar,  and  there  form  combinations.  Occasion- 


APPENDIX.  371 


Sermon  of  Rev.  Dr.  Stanford. 


ally,  a  party  sally  forth  to  try  their  skill  in  less  crimes ;  till,  eventually, 
some  of  them  are  detected,  and  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary.  There, 
for  the  want  of  room  to  make  the  necessary  classification,  they  horde 
too  much  in  mass,  and  soon  find  those  who  -are  more  proficient  in 
criminal  practices  than  themselves ;  from  whom  they  receive  greater 
aid  to  carry  on  the  course  of  bad  instruction.  So  true  is  it,  that  evil 
communications,  not  only  corrupt  good,  manners,  but  certainly  make 
bad  manners  much  worse.  Here,  too,  they  formerly  met  with  the  juve 
nile  offender ;  perhaps  sentenced  for  his  first  offence.  As  with  the 
false  tears  of  the  crocodile,  they  pretended  to  commiserate  his  mis 
fortunes,  ingratiate  themselves  into  his  tender  feelings,  and  by  such 
insinuations  he  gradually  listens  to  the  story  of  their  own  vicious 
conduct ;  and  finally  imbibes  those  depraved  principles  which  soon 
make  him  to  resemble  their  own  likeness.  Thus  advanced  in  their 
vicious  education,  no  wonder  they  should  resolve  to  form  a  new 
gang  on  their  liberation ;  so  that,  on  the  expiration,  it  may  be  said 
of  some  of  them,  they  are  competent  to  take  their  first  degree  of 
BACHELOE  in  the  AET  of  crime. 

Now,  a  new  scene  appears.  Instead  of  cultivating  repentance 
for  past  offences,  such  is  the  strength  of  sinful  habits,  they  improve 
their  criminal  system,  and  form  stronger  combinations  to  execute 
their  purposes.  Their  rapacity,  like  that  of  the  crocodile,  increases ; 
and,  with  extended  jaws,  they  lay  in  wait  to  catch  the  young  offender 
that  he  may  aid  in  their  dark  designs.  This  becomes  indispensably 
necessary,  in  order  to  perform  those  operations  of  which  a  grown 
person  is  incompetent.  The  little  boy  must  watch  the  opening  door ; 
climb  the  fence ;  or,  urge  his  way  through  the  cellar  bars.  Having 
gained  admission,  the  urchin  conceals  himself,  perhaps  beneath  the 
bed ;  within  the  vacant  closet ;  or,  in  the  garret's  corner,  until  all  is 
hushed  in  silent  sleep ;  when,  behold !  he  descends  the  stairs,  unlocks 
the  door,  and  admits  the  gang  to  accomplish  their  plunder.  This  is 
no  false  representation;  facts  like  these  have  too  frequently  occurred ; 
and  I  personally  know  a  youth,  of  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  now  in 
one  of  our  prisons,  who,  by  such  early  instruction  and  practices,  has 
been  pronounced  competent  to  take  the  lead  of  a  gang.  What  gen 
erous  soul  but  shudders  on  beholding  scenes  like  these,  and  ardently 
wishes  to  rescue  such  young  delinquents  from  the  jaws  of  total  de 
struction  ?  Such  public  depredations,  however,  seldom  go  long  with 
out  detection  ;  and,  the  perpetrators  are  deservedly  conveyed  to  the 


372  APPENDIX. 


Sermon  of  Rev.  Dr.  Stanford. 


State  Prison.  Here,  likewise,  for  the  want  of  adequate  means  to 
classify  the  criminals,  their  intercourse  with  each  other,  especially  in 
the  shades  of  night,  is  favorable  for  that  conversation  which  can 
only  produce  a  stronger  growth  of  vicious  principles,  and  which  out 
braves  the  watch  of  their  keepers,  and  the  moral  lessons  which  they 
constantly  receive.  And  here,  too,  the  old  offenders  seldom  fail  to 
ensnare  the  young,  and  instill  stronger  principles  of  mischief  into 
their  minds,  and  thus  stimulate  them  to  the  perpetration  of  more 
flagrant  offences.  From  such  a  mass  of  criminals,  so  long  in  the  cul 
tivation  of  vice,  no  wonder  that  some  of  them  should  become  so 
proficient  as,  at  the  expiration  of  their  sentence,  they  may  be  said  to 
take  their  second  degree,  of  MASTEE  in  the  AET  of  criminality. 

Let  us  look  again  at  the  infant  Moses,  and  we  shall  perceive  him 
exposed  to  danger  from  the  officers  of  Pharaoh's  court.  Had  they 
passed  along  by  the  river  side,  and  perceived  something  in  the  shape 
of  a  basket,  they  would  have  been  excited  to  ascertain  its  contents. 
Opening  the  lid,  they  would  have  found  the  Hebrew  child;  and 
although  they  might  have  been  affected  by  perceiving  its  tears,  the 
inexorable  edict  of  their  king  would  have  compelled  them  to  take 
away  its  life  by  drowning  him  in  the  river.  This  is  similar  to  the 
case  of  our  delinquent  children;  for,  the  civil  law  of  our  country 
knows  no  distinction  in  the  detection  of  crime,  whether  committed 
by  old  or  young.  When,  therefore,  our  officers  of  justice  perceive 
the  unwary  youth,  wading  in  the  stream  of  iniquity,  notwithstanding 
they  may  have  compassion  for  his  tender  years,  they  are  bound  to 
arrest.  And,  although  the  natural  life  of  the  offender  be  not  in  dan 
ger,  like  that  of  Moses,  still,  the  condemnation  and  criminal  confine 
ment  of  a  young  person  generally  produce  the  moral  death  of  his 
character,  and  destroy  the  hope  of  society  in  his  favor.  How  gen 
erous,  then,  is  that  hand  which  can  rescue  a  fallen  youth  from  such 
extreme  danger! 

What  adds  a  final  grade  to  the  distressing  exposure  of  poor  little 
Moses  is,  that  he  was  unconscious  of  his  danger.  Is  not  this  the 
case  with  our  unwary  youth  ?  Ignorant  of  the  criminality  of  their 
conduct,  their  offences  against  God,  and  their  accountability  to  the 
laws  of  society,  they  go  astray,  regardless  of  its  fatal  consequences. 
Like  as  Moses  knew  not  his  danger  of  being  carried  away  by  the 
stream,  or  devoured  by  the  monster  of  the  Nile,  so  our  unfortunate 
children  are  insensible  of  the  current  of  vice,  or  of  those  older,  aban- 


APPENDIX.  373 


Sermon  of  Rev.  Dr.  Stanford. 


doned  characters,  whether  male  or  female,  who  lay  in  wait  to  destroy 
them !  Nor  is  it  uncommon  for  such  old  offenders,  having  succeeded 
in  decoying  the  young  under  a  promise  of  gain,  on  their  detection,  to 
turn  evidence  against  them,  and  thus  seal  their  condemnation. 

Let  this  general  statement  of  our  dissipated  youth,  and  the  dan 
gers  to  which  they  are  exposed,  produce  the  necessary  impression 
upon  our  mind,  and  we  shall  instantly  perceive  the  importance  of 
the  laudable  efforts  of  this  Society  in  rescuing  them  from  the  paths 
of  the  destroyer,  and  giving  them  a  place  in  this  House  of  Refuge. 
As  the  means  which  the  Almighty  employed  to  extricate  the  infant 
Moses  from  his  danger  are  so  remarkably  interesting,  and,  as  the 
circumstances  attending  it  are  so  admirably  calculated  to  afford  us  a 
few  lessons  of  instruction  on  the  design  of  the  present  assembly,  we 
will  make  them  the  subject  of  the  second  part  of  this  discourse. 

II.  By  the  intervening  providence  of  God,  the  feet  of  Pharaoh's 
daughter  were  directed  to  the  waters  of  the  Nile.  How  minutely 
does  the  Almighty  perform  His  operations !  Had  the  princess,  with 
her  maidens,  come  down  on  the  morning  before,  Moses  had  not  been 
there :  had  she  been  confined  to  her  chamber,  and  visited  the  river 
on  the  following  day,  the  child  might  have  been  drowned,  or  devoured 
by  the  monster.  This,  therefore,  was  the  very  set  time  for  God  to 
favor  Moses ;  and  all  circumstances  combine  to  produce  the  event. 
Permit  me  to  say,  that  many  years  ago,  I  cultivated  a  commiseration 
for  the  vagrant  children  in  our  streets;  and  especially  for  those  mis 
erable  little  creatures  who  were  confined  in  our  prisons.  In  the  year 
1813,  I  presented  to  the  Honorable  the  Common  Council  the  out 
lines  of  a  plan  for  the  establishment  of  an  asylum  for  their  relief; 
but,  it  was  like  the  morning,  too  soon !  The  set  time  for  such  an 
operation  had  not  arrived ;  now,  the  providence  of  God  appears  in 
their  favor,  and  the  public  mind  is  generously  excited  to  rescue  them 
from  the  polluted  waters  of  destruction,  and  employ  every  possible 
means  for  their  restoration  to  usefulness  and  happiness. 

The  address  of  the  princess  of  Egypt  to  the  nurse  is  as  expressive 
as  it  is  kind  and  benevolent ;  and  affords  us  a  charming  impression 
of  the  strong  interest  which  she  took  in  the  future  welfare  of  the 
infant.  Take  this  child  away,  said  she,  from  its  present  danger, 
though  it  be  an  Hebrew.  Carry  it  to  your  home,  and  nurse  it  for 
me,  as  though  it  were  my  own.  I  require  not  this  care  at  your  own 
expense ;  for  I  am  able,  and  promise  to  give  tJiee  thy  wages.  Excel- 


374  APPENDIX. 


Sermon  of  Rev.  Dr.  Stanford. 


lent  princess!  what  more  could  she  have  said?  How  justly  may  all 
these  items  be  applied  to  the  good  intention  of  the  Society  now  assem 
bled!  Let  us  examine  them:  Take  this  child  away;  remove  the 
miserable  little  objects  from  the  paths  of  idleness,  beggary,  vanity, 
and  inducement  to  crime,  by  the  crafty  and  the  wicked  who  lie  in 
wait  to  allure  and  destroy  them.  But  whither  shall  these  juvenile 
delinquents  be  conveyed?  Where  is  the  hospitable  door  that  will 
open  to  receive  them?  Here  it  is!  The  House  of  Kefuge  is  now 
open:  its  door  unfolds  to  receive  and  protect  them,  as  the  arms  of 
the  nurse  were  extended  to  embrace  the  rescued  Moses. — What  atten 
tion  are  they  here  to  receive?  They  are  to  be  nursed.  What  this 
means  is  easy  to  be  understood.  They  come  to  you  in  rags,  and  you 
must  clothe  them  ;  they  are  hungry,  and  you  will  feed  them ;  desti 
tute  of  virtuous  friends,  you  clasp  them  to  your  bosom ;  mentally 
diseased  by  idleness  and  sin,  you  afford  them  the  religious  means  for 
restoration.  Nursing  is,  indeed,  anxious  labor  ;  and  those  who  have 
the  government  of  this  Institution  will  frequently  find  a  sufficiency 
of  care  to  fill  both  their  hands  and  their  hearts.  Still,  who  is  to 
supply?  From  whence  are  the  necessaries  to  be  obtained  to  feed 
and  to  clothe  so  large  a  family?  Eemember,  Pharaoh's  daughter 
said  unto  the  nurse,  I  will  give  thee  thy  wages ;  and  if  the  nurse 
could  trust  the  princess  of  Egypt,  surely  we  may  confide  in  the 
providence  of  the  Almighty,  for  the  silver  and  the  gold  are  His  to 
bestow.  Besides,  the  public  mind  has  already  been  so  benevolently 
interested  in  its  favor,  that  methinks  I  hear  their  voice  to  you  this 
morning,  "  We  will  give  thee  thy  wages.-'  For,  indeed,  you  nurse 
these  poor  miserable  creatures  for  the  public  peace  and  safety ;  and 
therefore  they  will  not  fail  to  give  you  the  most  ample  supply. 

The  reflections  I  have  already  made  lead  me  to  institute  an 
inquiry:  What  may  be  the  public  expectation  of  benefits  arising 
from  this  new  establishment?  The  first  I  will  name  is,  the  extrac 
tion  of  THE  COEE  OF  PAUPEEiSM.  It  is  well  known,  that  we  seldom 
see  men  and  women,  with  baskets  on  their  arms,  going  from  house  to 
house,  soliciting  charity;  for  the  trade  of  mendicity  has  been  carried 
on  principally  by  the  children  of  the  indolent  and  worthless.  While 
this  practice  was  pursued,  Societies  for  the  cure  or  prevention  of 
pauperism  may  hold  their  meetings,  and  publish  their  annual  reports, 
without  any  other  benefit  than  what  would  accrue  to  the  paper-mill, 
and  the  printing-press.  Remove  such  children  from  the  streets,  and 


APPENDIX.  375 


Address  to  the  Ladies. 


nurse  them  well ;  then,  though  the  strings  of  the  core  of  pauperism 
may  draw  hard  in  its  extraction,  it  is  the  best,  if  not  the  only  method 
of  cure.  The  public  will  likewise  expect  these  children  will  be 
instructed  in  the  rudiments  of  plain  education ;  the  importance  of 
cultivating  habits  of  industry ;  and  some  of  the  more  useful  mechanic 
arts;  by  which,  hereafter,  they  may  obtain  an  honest  livelihood, 
whether  on  the  land,  or  on  the  seas.  To  which  must  be  added,  their 
reformation,  and  improvement  in  morals ;  without  which,  very  little 
good  will  be  obtained.  No  man  will  expect  that  you  can  change 
their  vicious  little  hearts ;  for  this  is  alone  the  prerogative  of  God, 
by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  His  grace.  But,  as  this  is 
frequently  produced  by  the  use  of  means,  you  can  teach  these  igno 
rant  children  to  read  their  once  neglected  Bible ;  show  them  the 
nature  and  danger  of  sin  and  transgression  in  the  sight  of  God  and 
man ;  you  can  point  them  to  a  compassionate  Saviour,  who  not  only 
died  for  our  sins,  but,  in  the  days  of  His  flesh,  took  children  in  His 
arms  and  blessed  them.  And  it  will  be  easy  for  you  to  contrast 
their  former  state  of  ignorance  and  degradation  with  the  privileges 
of  instruction  and  good  examples  which  they  now  receive,  in  the 
cheering  hope  of  their  interest  and  happiness  in  the  world.  These 
are  some  of  those  duties  which  you  owe  to  them,  and  to  the  public ; 
and,  if  faithfully  performed,  I  hope  God  will  succeed  your  endeavors, 
and  the  expectation  of  our  citizens  will  be  happily  realized. 

ADDKESSES. 

THE  ladies  who  have  so  generously  engaged  their  services  to  visit 
and  to  watch  over  the  female  department  of  this  House  of  Refuge 
will  accept  my  congratulation  upon  this  occasion.  You  have  no 
need  for  me  to  intimate  the  duties  you  have  to  perform.  You  pos 
sess  a  parental  feeling ;  and  nothing  but  motives  of  tenderness  and 
kindness  could  have  prompted  your  exertions  to  aid  in  this  noble 
design  of  restoring  the  fallen  children  of  your  own  sex  to  the  paths 
of  virtue  and  happiness.  Permit  me  to  remind  you  of  Pharaoh's 
daughter,  as  your  noble  example.  True,  she  was  an  Egyptian ;  an 
idolatress;  no  matter  for  the  color  of  her  complexion;  she  came  to 
the  brink  of  the  river ;  she  saw  the  helpless  infant ;  she  had  com 
passion,  and  she  saved  him !  Had  that  distinguished  woman  lived  in 
a  Christian  land,  and  had  her  heart  been  enriched  with  the  Gospel 


376  APPENDIX. 


To  the  Mayor  and  Common  Council. 


of  Christ,  I  would  exhibit  her  in  the  attitude  of  relieving  the  dis 
tressed,  and  then  say  to  you,  BEHOLD  THE  LOVELIEST  PICTUEE  OF 
CHEISTIAN  OHAEITY  !  Go,  worthy  ladies,  and  do  likewise. 

THE  HONOEABLE  THE  MAYOE,  AND  THE  MEMBEES  OF  THE  COMMON 
COUNCIL  OF  THE  CITY  ;  AND  THE  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  NEW  YOEK 
DELEGATION  TO  THE  STATE  LEGISLATUEE,  who  have  honored  this 
Society  with  their  presence,  cannot  but  feel  a  lively  interest  in 
beholding  this  rising  institution.  You  must  be  convinced,  gentlemen, 
that  this  is  not  an  object  of  simple  charity.  It  is  strongly  combined 
with  the  safety,  honor,  and  happiness  of  the  whole  community.  If 
such  little  offenders  were  permitted  to  range  at  large,  their  criminal 
habits  would  grow  with  their  years;  their  number  by  example 
would  increase ;  and,  by  these  means,  town  and  country  would  be 
overrun,  and  our  public  prisons  be  crowded,  not  failing  to  produce 
an  enormous  expense  to  the  State!  To  prevent  these  calamitous 
consequences,  the  House  of  Kefuge  is  erected,  and  makes  a  strong 
appeal  for  public  support.  But,  my  humane  friends,  the  prevention 
of  the  growth  of  crime  is  not  all  that  is  intended  by  this  Society ;  it 
is  their  moral  design,  by  every  method  possible,  to  reclaim  these 
juvenile  delinquents,  that  they  may  become  useful  and  honorable 
members  of  society.  This  enhances  the  value  of  the  institution  so 
highly,  that  I  have  no  language  sufficiently  to  express  its  importance! 
"While,  therefore,  we  cherish  the  hope  that  our  own  COEPOEATION  will 
look  with  a  benign  aspect  on  the  House  of  Eefuge,  our  CITY  DELE 
GATION  also  will  make  such  a  favorable  representation  of  it,  that  our 
STATE  LEGISLATURE  will  form  a  sort  of  echo,  "  We  also  will  aid,  and 
pay  thee  thy  wages." 

THE  MANAGEES  OF  THIS  ESTABLISHMENT:  I  cannot  but  congratu 
late  you,  gentlemen,  on  the  completion  of  this  new  building.  The 
smiles  of  Heaven  have  thus  far  succeeded  your  efforts,  in  favor  of  the 
young  unfortunates  committed  to  your  care.  The  duties  requisite  in 
every  new  institution  must  generally  be  known  as  the  result  of  obser 
vation  and  experience ;  of  course  you  will  have  much  to  learn,  as 
well  as  much  to  perform.  Begin  your  services  in  the  fear  of  your 
God ;  duly  reflect  on  the  magnitude  of  the  object  for  which  you  are 
engaged;  while  you  combine  tenderness  and  faithfulness  in  all  your 
operations ;  it  is  my  sincere  wish  that  the  whole  may  be  crowned 
with  the  most  abundant  success. 


APPENDIX.  377 


To  the  Children. 


THE  CHILDREN. 

CHILDREN  :  I  must  not  omit  claiming  your  attention,  and  solicit 
ing  you  to  indulge  the  most  serious  reflections  on  the  privileges  you 
now  enjoy.  »The  erection  of  this  building,  together  with  your  sup 
port,  must  give  you  strong  conviction,  how  much  a  benevolent  pub 
lic  are  interested  in  your  present  and  future  welfare.  Had  you  been 
left  alone  to  yourselves,  in  poverty,  idleness,  and  sin,  instead  of  insur 
ing  you  peace  and  pleasure,  iniquity  would  have  proved  your  final 
ruin.  You  are  to  look  at  the  walls  which  surround  this  building,  not 
so  much  as  those  of  a  prison,  as  an  hospitable  dwelling,  in  which  you 
enjoy  comfort,  and  safety  from  those  who  once  led  you  astray.  And, 
I  may  venture  to  say,  that  in  all  probability,  this  is  the  best  home 
many  of  you  ever  enjoyed!  You  have  no  need  for  me  to  tell  you, 
that  the  consideration  of  all  these  /avors  should  stimulate  you  to  sub 
mission,  industry,  and  gratitude.  You  are  not  placed  here  so  much 
for  punishment,  as  to  produce  your  moral  improvement.  By  these 
indulgent  means,  we  hope  that,  instead  of  your  spending  your  days 
in  idleness,  disgrace,  and  misery,  you  may  become  useful  to  your 
selves,  honorable  in  society,  and  share  in  the  true  happiness  of  your 
fellow-creatures.  Although  you  are  now  young  in  years,  you  must 
have  some  consciousness  that  the  errors  of  life,  and  the  evils  of  your 
heart,  expose  you  to  the  displeasure  of  the  Almighty  ;  that  you  need 
the  tender  mercy  of  the  Saviour  to  pardon  your  iniquities  ;  to  renew 
your  depraved  minds  by  the  virtue  of  His  grace,  and  thus  save  you 
from  the  desert  of  your  transgressions.  "We  hope,  therefore,  that, 
while  you  are  within  these  walls,  the  Lord  may  command  His  merci 
ful  kindness  upon  you,  and  enable  you  to  devote  yourselves  to  His 
adored  Name,  and  His  most  delightful  service !  Moses  could  never 
forget  the  humanity  and  kindness  of  Pharaoh's  daughter,  in  deliver 
ing  him  from  the  danger  to  which  he  was  exposed;  and  I  would 
indulge  the  charming  impression,  that  there  is  no  youth  in  this  House 
of  Refuge,  but  what  will  bear  in  devout  remembrance  the  deliverance 
and  the  favors  which  you  have  here  received,  and  evince  the  sincerity 
of  your  gratitude  by  the  amiableness  of  your  temper,  and  the  virtue 
of  your  future  conduct. 

CONCLUSION. 

The  time  on  which  we  have  now  assembled  is  usually  called 
"Christmas  Day."  Whether  this  recognizes  the  very  day  on  which 


378  APPENDIX. 


An  appropriate  Christmas  Service. 


Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem,  is  not  now  my  business  to  examine. 
If  any  man  prefers  keeping  this,  or  any  other  day  to  the  Lord,  I  am 
not  disposed  to  interrupt  him  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  privilege.  The 
text  on  which  I  have  this  morning  addressed  you,  combined  with  the 
narrative  of  Moses  laid  among  the  flags  on  the  brink  of  the  river, 
remind  me  of  the  angel's  address  to  the  shepherds  in  the  field  while 
watching  their  flock  by  night :  Fear  not :  for,  behold,  I  'bring  you 
good  tidings  of  great  joy,  which  shall  'be  to  all  people.  For  unto  you 
is  lorn  this  day  in  the  city  of  David  a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the 
Lord.  And  this  shall  'be  a  sign  unto  you;  ye  shall  find  the  lobe 
wrapped  in  swaddling-clothes,  lying  in  a  manger.  Immediately  the 
shepherds  left  their  flocks;  and  they  came  with  haste,  and  found 
Mary,  and  Joseph,  and  the  lale  lying  in  the  manger*  This  is  that 
true  Moses,  the  prophet,  which  the  Lord  our  God  promised  to  raise 
up,  like  unto  him  in  all  things,  whom  his  people  should  hear.^  How 
singularly  striking  were  the  circumstances  which  attended  their 
infancy!  Yes,  the  babe  of  Bethlehem,  found  in  a  manger,  was 
Christ  the  Lord;  and,  his  name  was  called  Jesus,  for  he  was  to  save 
Iris  people  from  their  sins.  If  Moses  that  was  found  in  the  ark  of 
bulrushes  was  born  to  deliver  the  Israelites  from  their  bondage  in 
Egypt,  and  conduct  them  through  the  wilderness  on  their  way  to 
Canaan :  we  are  certain,  that  our  blessed  Saviour  was  born  to  deliver 
from  the  more  dreadful  bondage  of  sin  and  misery,  and  safely  con 
duct  His  redeemed  to  the  rest  of  immortality  and  glory.  Yes,  Jesus 
was  born  to  live,  to  suffer,  and  to  die  upon  the  cross  for  our  sins ; 
and  after  He  was  laid  in  the  grave,  He  burst  the  bands  of  death, 
ascended  up  to  heaven,  and  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
Majesty  on  high,  from  thence  to  shower  down  the  multiplicity  of 
his  mercies  upon  mankind.  And  who,  on  this  occasion,  but  will 
most  devoutly  pray — LOED,  EESERVE  A  BLESSING  FOE  THIS  HOUSE  OF 
REFUGE  !  Amen. 

*  Luke  ii.  t  Deut,  xviii.  15 ;  Acts  vii.  37. 


APPENDIX. 


379 


List  of  Managers. 


VI. 

LIST  OF  MANAGERS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  FOB  THE  REFOR 
MATION"  OF  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS  IN  THE  CITY 
OF  NEW  YORK,  FROM  1824  TO  1868. 


The  names  in  Italics  are  connected  witJi  the  Board  at  the,  present  time, 
marked,  ( * )  tints  are  deceased. 


Those 


Elected.  Retired. 

1824  *  Cadwallader  D.  Colden,  1832 
"  *  Stephen  Allen,  1852 
"  *  Peter  A.  Jay,  1827 
"  *  John  T.  Irving,  1829 
"  *  John  Griscom,  1833 
"  *  Henry  J.  Wyckoff,  1839 
"  *  Cornelius  Du  Bois,  1846 
"  *  Ealph  Olmsted,  1835 
"  *  Eobert  F.  Mott,  1826 
"  *  Arthur  Burtis,  1829 
"  *  Isaac  Collins,  1829 
"  *  Samuel  Cow  drey,  1829 
"  *  Gilbert  Coutant,  1826 
"  *  John  Duer,  1828 
"  *  Cornelius  E.  Duffle,  1826 
"  *  Thomas  Eddy,  1829 
"        James  W.  Gerard,  1829 
"  *  Joseph  Grinnell,  1830 
"  *  John  E.  Hyde,  1831 
"  *  Ansel  W.  Ives,  M.  D.,    1831 
"  *  James  Lovett,  1850 
"       Hugh  Maxwell,  1848 
"  *  Henry  Mead,  1826 
"  *  John  Stearns,  M.  D.,  1835 
"  *  John  Targee,  1826 
"  *  J.  M.  Wainright,  D.  D.,  1827 

1825  *  Eobert  C.  Cornell,  1845 

1826  William  A.  Davis,  1827 
"  *  Thomas  Gibbons,  1827 
"  *  William  F.  Mott,  1839 
"  *  Eichard  Eiker,  1827 
"  *  Frederick  Sheldon,  1834 
"  *  Peter  Sharpe,  1842 
"  *  Arthur  Tappan,  1827 
"  *  Gabriel  Wisner,  1827 


Retired. 
1831 
1830 

1834 
1829 
1853 
1828 
1830 
1829 
1834 
1835 
1842 
1852 
1835 
1834 
1830 
1836 
1836 

James  J.  Eoosevelt,  Jr.,  1831 
1837 
1853 
1844 
1845 
1834 
1837 
1832 
1847 
1849 
1844 
1844 
1837 
1846 
1844 
1853 
1840 


Elected. 

1826  *  Samuel  Wood, 

1827  *  Isaac  S.  Hone, 
"     -•  He  man  Averill, 
"     *  Joseph  Curtis, 

"    *  William  W.  Fox, 
"    *  James  Kent,  LL.  D., 
"    *  Benjamin  L.  Swan, 
"    *  David  Stebbins, 
"    *  M.  Van  Schaick, 

1828  *  John  Hunter, 

1829  *  Jacob  Harvey, 
"       Eufus  L.  Lord, 

"    *  Dennis  McCarthy, 
"    *  Nathaniel  Eichards, 
"    *  Najah  Taylor, 
"     *  John  W.  Wyman, 

1830  *  Eussell  H.  Nevins, 


"    *  Frederick  A.  Tracy, 
"    *  Eobert  D.  Weeks, 
"     *  William  L.  Stone, 

1831  *  Jacob  Drake, 
"    *  William  Kent, 
"    *  Peter  E.  Starr, 
"    *  Charles  Town, 

1832  *  Silas  Brown, 

"    *  B.  L.  Woolley, 

1833  *  Samuel  Stevens, 

1834  *  Benjamin  S.  Collins, 
"    *  Eli  Goodwin, 

"    *  John  E.  Townsend, 
"    *  John  E.  Willis, 

1835  *  Augustin  Averill, 
"    *  Ira  B.  Underbill, 

1836  *  Cornelius  W.  Lawrence,  1842 


380 

APPENDIX. 

List  of  Managers. 

Elected. 

Retired.                Elected.                                                            Retired. 

1836  *  Anthony  Lamb, 

1850 

1850      Thomas  W.  Gale,            1851 

"    *  William  Mandeville, 

1843 

"       Edgar  S.  Van  Winkle. 

"    *  Oliver  M.  Lownds, 

1839 

"     *  George  F.  Hussey,          1858 

1837  *  Eobert  I.  Murray, 

1841 

"     *  M.  L.  Seymour,                1852 

"    *  Chandler  Starr, 

1840 

1851      Ogden  Haggerty,              1852 

1838  *  David  C.  Golden, 

1850 

"       Frederick  W.  Downer. 

"    *  Oliver  T.  Hewlett, 

1839 

1852     Samuel  L.  Mitcbill,          1854 

"    *  Eevo  C.  Hance, 

1839 

"       Wm.H.  Maxwell,  M.D.,  1857 

1839  *  Mahlon  Day, 

1840 

"    *  Edmund  M.  Young,        1865 

"    *  Eobert  Kelly, 

1856 

1853      John  J.  Townsend. 

'  '       Shepherd  Knapp. 

"       Andrew  Warner. 

1840  *  Leonard  Corning, 

1841 

"    *  David  Sands,                    1859 

"    *  Thomas  Eddy, 

1842 

"        John  Bigelow,                  1855 

"        Harvey  P.  Peet, 

1850 

1854     E.  L.  Kennedy,                1857 

"    *  Marinus  Willett, 

1841 

"        Eichard  M.  Hoe. 

1841  *  G.  P.  Discs  way, 

1844 

"        Charles  C.  Leigh,             1865 

"    *  Samuel  Downer,  Jr., 

1846 

1855  *  Thomas  B.  Stillman,       1865 

"    *  Israel  Eussell, 

1858 

"       William  C.  Eussel,           1864 

1842     John  H.  Gourlie, 

1854 

"        Oliver  S.  Strong. 

"    *  Charles  M.  Leupp, 

1859 

1856      William  M.  Prichard. 

"    *  James  Marsh, 

1846 

"    *  James  P.  Cronkbite,        1860 

1843     William  Moore, 

1844 

"        James  M.  Hoisted. 

"    *  John  T.  Adams, 

1847 

"       Edgar  Ketchum. 

1844     John  A.  Weeks. 

1857     Pder  McMartin. 

"    *  Joshua  S.  Underbill, 

1857 

"    *  Mark  Spencer,                  1859 

"        Cornelius  Du  Bois,  Jr 

,  1845 

"       Henry  A.  Cram. 

1845  *  Mahlon  Day, 

1854 

1858      D.  Jackson  Steward. 

"       James  N.  Cobb. 

"        Francis  P.  Schoals,          1862 

"    *  P.  A.  Schermerhorn, 

1845 

"    *  William  Gale,                  1862 

"    *  Walter  Underbill, 

1866 

1859  *  Henry  H.  Barrow,            1862 

"        James  Van  Nostrand, 

1847 

"       Henry  M.  Alexander. 

"       Elias  G.  Drake, 

1856 

"        William  Cromivell. 

"    *  George  J.  Cornell, 

1857 

"    *  Joel  Eathbone,  Albany,  1864 

1846     John  W.  Edmonds, 

1854 

1860      Cyrus  P.  Smith,  Brooklyn. 

1847  *  T.  T.  Luquere, 

1849 

1862      Henry  K.  Bogert. 

"       E.  L.  Schieffelin, 

1849 

1863      Morris  Franklin. 

"    *  James  W.  Underbill, 

1866 

1864     Howard  Potter,                 1866 

"       C.  E.  Pierson,  M.  D., 

1855 

1864     Henry  Q.  Hawley,  Albany. 

"    *  Linus  W.  Stevens, 

1864 

1865     D.  Thomas  Vail,  Troy. 

"    *  Smith  W.  Anderson, 

1849 

1865      Samuel  W.  Torrey. 

1848  *  Daniel  Seymour, 

1850 

1866      Geo.  W.  Clinton,  Buffalo. 

1849      James  W.  Bcekman, 

1855 

1866     Benj.  D.  Silliman,  Brooklyn. 

"    *  Eichard  H.  Ogden, 

1853 

1866     Nicholas  D.  Herder. 

"       J.  W.  C.  Leveridge. 

1866      John  A.  Stewart. 

1850      B.  E,  Atterlury. 

APPENDIX. 


381 


List  of  Officers  of  the  Society. 


List  of  Officers  and  Managers  filling  the  various  Committees  of  the  Society  for  the 
Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  in  the  City  of  New  York,  from  1824  to  1868. 


PRESIDENTS. 


Elected.  Retired. 

1824=     Cadwallader  D.  Colden,  1882 
1832     Stephen  Allen,  1852 


Elected.  Retired. 

1852     Eobert  Kelly,  1856 

1856     OLIVER  S.  STRONG. 


VICE-PBESIDETN8. 


1824 

Stephen  Allen, 

1832 

u 

Peter  A.  Jay, 

1827 

a 

John  T.  Irving, 

1829 

a 

John  Griscom, 

1833 

u 

Henry  J.  Wyckoff, 

1839 

u 

Cornelius  Du  Bois, 

1834 

1827 

James  Lovett, 

1850 

1829 

Peter  Sharpe, 

1842 

1832 

Hugh  Maxwell, 

1848 

1833 

William  W.  Fox, 

1853 

1834 

Eobert  C.  Cornell, 

1845 

1840 

Samuel  Stevens, 

1844 

1843 

Jacob  Drake, 

1845 

1845 

Anthony  Lamb, 

1850 

1846 

Cornelius  Du  Bois, 

1846 

a 

Augustin  Averill, 

1853 

a 

Eobert  D.  Weeks, 

1853 

1848 

David  C.  Colden, 

1850 

1850 

Eufus  L.  Lord, 

1852 

a 

SHEPHERD  KNAPP. 

1851 

Eobert  Kelly, 

1852 

1852 

Israel  Eussell, 

1858 

1853 

Charles  M.  Leupp, 

1859 

(( 

John  H.  Gourlie, 

1854 

(( 

Joshua  S.  Underbill, 

1857 

1854 

Mahlon  Day, 

1854 

" 

John  A.  "Weeks, 

1856 

1855 

JAMES  N.  COBB. 

1856 

Linus  "W.  Stevens, 

1864 

1857 

Walter  Underbill, 

1866 

1858 

James  "W.  Underbill, 

1866 

1860 

JNO.  W.  C.  LEVERIDGE. 

1863 

B.  B.  ATTERBURY. 

1824     Ealph  Olmsted,  ^ 
1828     Cornelius  Du  Bois, 
1846     Israel  Eussell, 


TREASURERS. 

1828  1848 

1846  1857 

1848  1866 


Joshua  S.  Underbill, 
Walter  Underbill, 
JOHN  A.  STEWART. 


1857 
1866 


SECRETARIES. 


1824 
1826 

1827 
1828 
1833 


Eobert  F.  Mott, 
Samuel  Cowdrey, 
Isaac  S.  Hone, 
Frederick  Sheldon, 
Ealph  Olmsted, 


1826 
1827 
1828 
1833 
1835 


1835 
1843 
1853 
1854 


John  E.  Townsend,  1843 

John  H,  Gourlie,  1853 

James  W.  Underbill,  1854 
ANDREW  WARNER. 


CHAIRMEN  OF  THE  ACTING   COMMITTEE  FROM  1824  TO  1854. 


1824  Stephen  Allen,  1825 

1825  Cornelius  Du  Bois,          1827 
1827     Eobert  C.  Cornell,  1829 


1829 
1841 
1851 


William  W.  Fox, 
Augustin  Averill, 
Eobert  Kelly, 


1841 
1851 

1854 


382 


APPENDIX. 


List  of  Officers. 


SECRET AEIE8  OF  ACTING   COMMITTEE  FROM  1824   TO  1854. 


Elected.  Retired. 

1824  Joseph  Curtis,  1825 

1825  E.  C.  Cornell,  1827 

1827  Isaac  Collins,  1827 
"       M.  Van  Schaick,  1828 

1828  Nathaniel  Eichards,  1829 


Elected.  Retired. 

1829  F.  A.  Tracy,  1831 

1831  E.  D.  Weeks,  1842 

1842  John  II.  Gourlie,  1847 

1847  James  W.  Underhill,  1853 

1853  Fred.  W.  Downer,  1854 


Managers  wlio  have  acted  on  tlie  Indenturing  Committee,  and  the  term  of  years 
each  lias  served,  from  1827  to  1868. 


James  Lovett, 
Frederick  Sheldon, 
Wm.  F.  Mott, 
Heman  Averill, 
Benjamin  L.  Swan, 
E.  C.  Cornell, 
Nathaniel  Eichards, 
'M.  Van  Schaick, 
Benjamin  S.  Collins, 
Silas  Brown, 
Jacob  Drake, 
Eobert  I.  Murray, 
Augustin  Averill, 
John  E.  Willis, 
Eobert  Kelly, 
James  Marsh, 
J.  S.  Underhill, 
Israel  Eussell, 
Mahlon  Day, 


Daniel  Seymour,  2 

Walter  Underhill,  1 

George  F.  Hussey,  1 

James  N.  Cobb,  7 

Elias  G.  Drake,  2 

David  Sands,  3 

Eichard  M.  Hoe,  6 

James  P.  Cronkhite,  3 

O.  S.  Strong,  1 

William  Gale,  2 

FBED.  W.  DOWNER,  10 

EDGAR  KETCHUM,  5 

Charles  C.  Leigh,  4 

William  C.  Eussel,  2 

Thomas  B.  Stillman,  1 

H.  K.  BOGERT,  6 

WILLIAM  CROMWELL,  6 

MORRIS  FRANKLIN,  4 


Organization  of  the  Finance  Committee  in  January,  1841  to  1868. 


1841 

u 

1845 


Eobert  C.  Cornell, 
James  Lovett, 
Charles  M.  Leupp, 
Joshua  S.  Underhill, 


1845 
1845 
1859 
1848 


1848 
1856 
1859 


Eobert  Kelly, 
Edmund  M.  Young. 
Shepherd  Knapp. 


1856 


Organization  of  the  School  Committee,  January  7, 1847.     The,  following  Man 
agers  Jiave  acted  on  this  Committee  up  to  1868. 

CHAIRMEN. 

1847  to  1849— Charles  E.  Pierson,  M.  D. ;  Charles  M.  Leupp  ;  John  A.  Weeks. 
1850  to  1852— C.  E.  Pierson,  M.  D. ;  C.  M.  Leupp ;  B.  B.  Atterbury. 

1853— C.  E.  Pierson,  M.  D. ;  B.  B.  Atterbury ;  F.  W.  Downer. 

1854— C.  E.  Pierson,  M.  D. ;  B.  B.  Atterbury;  F.  W.  Downer;  J.  W. 

Underhill. 


APPENDIX. 


383 


List  of  Officers. 


1855— B.  B.  Atterbury;    F.  W.  Downer;    J.  W.  Underliill ;  T.  B. 

Stillmau. 

1856—0.  S.  Strong;  F.  W.  Downer;  Wm.  C.  Eussel. 
1857—0.  S.  Strong;  F.  W.  Downer;  James  M.  Halsted. 
1858  to  1861—0.  S.  Strong;  James  M.  Halsted;  P.  McMartin. 
1861  to  1868—0.  S.   Strong ;  James  M.  Halsted ;   P.  McMartin ;   Henry  M. 
Alexander. 


Building  Committee  for  Neto  House,  oil  Randall's  Island.     Organized  October  1, 
1351,  up  to  1868. 

Retired. 

Elias  G.  Drake,  1856 

JNO.  "W".  C.  LEVERIDGE. 
EICHARD  M.  HOE. 
Walter  Underbill,  1866 

THOMAS  B.  STILLMAN. 


Elected. 

Retired. 

Electe 

1851      Charles  M.  Leupp, 

1859 

1851 

"       Eobert  Kelly, 

1852 

t( 

"       George  J.  Cornell, 

1852 

1856 

Linus  "W.  Stevens, 

1864 

1857 

"        J.  S.  Underbill, 

1857 

1859 

"       Jobn  H.  Gourlie, 

1853 

Members  of  the  Executive  Committee  since  the  removal  of  the  Refuge  to  Randall's 
Island.     Organized  November  3,  1854,  to  1868. 


Linus  W.  Stevens, 

6  years. 

Eobert  Kelly, 

1     " 

Edmund  M.  Young, 

1     " 

Wm.  M.  Pritcbard, 

1     " 

0.  S.  Strong, 

1     " 

B.  B.  ATTERBURY, 

12     " 

C.  C.  Leigh, 

1     " 

Jobn  J.  Townsend, 
H.  H.  Barrow, 
JAMES  N.  COBB, 
CYRUS  P.  SMITH, 
D.  JACKSON  STEWART, 
NICHOLAS  HERDER, 


2  years. 
2     " 
7     " 
7     " 
" 


Organization  of  tlie  Law  Committee^  November  3, 1854. 

1857     WM.  M.  PRITCHARD. 
1857     HENRY  A.  CHAM. 


1854     George  J.  Cornell, 

"       John  A.  Weeks, 
1856     John  J.  Townsend, 


1857 
1856 
1857 


1825  John  Stearns,  M.  D., 

"  Ansel  W.  Ives,  M.  D., 

1832  H.  A.  Field,  M.  D., 

"  Galen  Carter,  M.  D., 


PHYSICIANS. 

1836 


1834 
1832 
1835 
1854 


1855 


Jno.  C.  Cheesman,  D.D.,  1838 
James  B.  Nelson,  M.  D.,  1838 
H.  N.  WHITTLESEY,  M.  D. 


CHAPLAINS. 


1825     Eev.  John  Stanford,  D.  D. 
1835     Thos.  S.  Barrett,  M.  D.,  1853 
1854     Eev.  Franklin  S.  Howe,  1855 


1855    Eev.  Eichard  Horton,        1863 
1863    Eev.  B.  K.  PEIRCE,  D.  D. 


384 

APPENDIX. 

List  of  Officers. 

SUPERINTENDENTS. 

Elected. 

Retired.               Elected. 

Retired. 

1824 

Joseph  Curtis, 

1826 

1844 

Samuel  S.  Wood, 

1849 

1826 

Nathaniel  C.  Hart, 

1838 

1849 

John  W.  Ketchum, 

1863 

1838 

David  Terry,  Jr., 

1844 

1863 

ISRAEL  C.  JOKES, 

MATRONS. 

1824 

Phoebe  Curtis, 

1826 

1843 

Phoebe  Wood, 

1846 

1826 

C.  E.  Andrews, 

1828 

1846 

Ann  Carter, 

1850 

1828 

Catharine  Gowey, 

1830 

1850 

Phoebe  Ann  Daly, 

1853 

1830 

Rebecca  Oram, 

1833 

1853 

Ann  Carter, 

1854 

1833 

Rebecca  Goldsmith, 

1834 

1855 

Maria  Osgood, 

1861 

1834 

Susan  C.  Taylor, 

1838 

1861 

Julia  O'Brien, 

1865 

1838 

M.  T.  Myrich, 

1839 

1865 

Kate  Logan, 

1867 

1839 

Susan  C.  Taylor, 

1841 

1SG7 

JULIA  O'BRIEN. 

1841 

M.  A.  Elrnendorf, 

1843 

THE   END. 


